Home sellers lose confidence and slash £5,000 off house prices in the last month amid 'Brexit uncertainty'

  • Average asking price of newly marketed property is down 0.2% annually
  • Rightmove says this is the first year-on-year fall in asking prices since 2011
  • London asking prices are down 2.4% annually, while South East is down 1.2%
  • But asking prices in West midlands are up 4.4% and 3.7% in East Midlands 

House prices are now lower than they were a year ago for properties being put up for sale, according to new research.

The average asking price of a newly marketed property in the month to mid-November, was 0.2 per cent, or £607, less than at the same point last year, property listing website Rightmove reported.

This is the first year-on-year fall in asking prices since 2011 and the decline in confidence is accelerating, with sellers shaving off £5,200 from asking price expectations in the past month alone.

Asking prices have fallen across all of the UK regions between October and November

Asking prices have fallen across all of the UK regions between October and November, but only London and the South East are in negative territory over a year

The lower price tags on homes for sale are giving some house hunters an early Christmas present, but many home movers are being held back by the struggle to sell their existing property.

Rightmove said sellers were setting more realistic prices to attract people hesitant to buy amid Brexit uncertainty.

'New sellers and their agents are reacting to market forces and lowering their pricing aspirations by more and sooner than usual,’ said Miles Shipside, of Rightmove.

All regions saw asking prices fall this month. Yorkshire and the Humber saw the biggest month-on-month fall, at 2.4 per cent, followed by the South East, where prices dropped 2.1 per cent. In London they fell by 1.7 per cent.

Over the past year the biggest decline has been seen in London, however, where average asking prices have fallen £15,000, or 2.4 per cent, to £614,271.

Asking prices are below where they were a year ago on average and further below their summer peak this year

Asking prices are below where they were a year ago on average and further below their summer peak this year

Over five years asking prices are up substantially but the rise has now tailed off, although traditionally the end of the year sees a lull

Over five years asking prices are up substantially but the rise has now tailed off, although traditionally the end of the year sees a lull

The chill has spread from the capital to the commuter belt, with asking prices in the South East down 1.2 per cent annually, while in the East of England, which includes Hertfordshire and Essex, prices were almost flat, with a rise of just 0.2 per cent over 12 months.

The West Midlands, although having seen prices decline 1.6 per cent over the last month, has the fastest annual growth at 4.4 per cent.

It is followed by the North East, where prices rose by 3.5 per cent over the last twelve months and declined by just 0.6 per cent monthly.

Average asking price of newly marketed property is 0.2% says Rightmove. (Stock picture)

Average asking price of newly marketed property is 0.2% says Rightmove. (Stock picture)

Shipside said: 'Stretched buyer affordability and the cooling markets in the south and in upper price brackets have combined with the ongoing political uncertainty to change pricing optimism into pricing realism.

‘This is a welcome effort by sellers to minimise the usual pre-Christmas market slowdown.'

Rightmove's table shows how asking prices have changed over the past month and year nationally, with homes at the top of the ladder seeing the biggest declines

Rightmove's table shows how asking prices have changed over the past month and year nationally, with homes at the top of the ladder seeing the biggest declines

The drop in asking prices for more expensive homes is reflected in the London data, which shows inner zones hit harder

The drop in asking prices for more expensive homes is reflected in the London data, which shows inner zones hit harder

'Significant' monthly price falls were recorded in the upper-end of the market, especially in London commuter towns, where prices have risen by over 40 per cent since 2011.

Shipside said: 'Seven years ago price rises started rippling out from the capital into the commuter belt in the South East. That ripple effect has now been reversed, with some of the London market price re-adjustment reverberating out into the commuter belt. 

'New sellers of property now coming to market in this region have belatedly lowered their price sights.'

Former hotspot commuter towns like Rickmansworth, in Hertfordshire, Esher, in Surrey, and Gerrards Cross, in Buckinghamshire, are now are now among the biggest annual fallers, with prices down by 7.1 per cent, 6.4 per cent and 6 per cent respectively. 

It now takes 61 days on average to get a newly-listed home under offer, according to Rightmove

It now takes 61 days on average to get a newly-listed home under offer, according to Rightmove

It currently takes 61 days for newly-listed homes to go under offer, according to Rightmove.

But that period extends to 71 days in London. 

Richard Freshwater, director of Cheffins Estate Agents in Cambridge, said he's seen an increase in the number of sellers lowering their prices this year and pins this down to Brexit.

'Motivated sellers need to ensure that their properties have been priced realistically from the outset as increases in stock continue to allow buyers to drive market fluctuations,' he said.

'Those which have been realistically priced and correctly marketed from the off are still seeing large viewing numbers, offers and in some situations, sealed bids.'

The discounting may have temped more buyers though, as sales agreed across the country were up by 1 per cent compared to same period a year ago, according to the report.

'While many thought that the down-to-the-wire Brexit deal uncertainty would hold people back from buying, more buyers have actually jumped in. 

'Some buyers see this pre-Christmas price lull as a gift to their negotiations,' Shipside said. 

  

 

 

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