If you want to sell your home by Christmas, it’s vital you list at the right price from the offset as sale agreement to completion time stretches to three months.
Asking prices across the UK have dipped by an average of 2.3% this month compared to July’s figures, according to the most recent analysis from property portal Rightmove, which is the equivalent of around £7,000 per property and brings the country’s average asking price to £301,973.
While this slowdown is slightly higher than last year’s 2.1% fall, prices have still soared by 32% since 2010 so it’s unlikely the monthly dip is an indication of any serious changes to market sentiment. With London and the south-east registering the biggest drops in asking price, taking them out of the equation actually brings the UK’s average to a much less dramatic 1.5% monthly fall – which again will be subject to huge regional variations.
Shifting properties off the market
The length of time it takes for a home to sell – from an offer being accepted to the final completion date – has increased according to Rightmove, with it now taking an average of three months to sell a property. This could be due to a recent 2.1% surge in homes available on the market, combined with slightly more caution being taken by buyers due to issues including Brexit, the changing mortgage market and general housing affordability.
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According to Russell Quirk, founder of eMoov, the overall market is skewed by London’s million-pound-plus properties, which are having their asking prices drastically slashed in some cases to get them moving.
He commented: “If you are looking to sell by Christmas, or at all, it isn’t a case of slashing your asking price by thousands in order to achieve this. Research your local market and price appropriately based on recent nearby sales.”
Rightmove’s Miles Shipside also added that “holiday-distracted” buyers are having to be enticed to the market by sellers who are willing to price down, which is a normal occurrence at this time of year but, on the back of the “Beast from the East” which also affected sales volumes, it could be having a slightly stronger effect.
