UK house prices fall in toughest sellers’ market in 10 years

Rightmove says prices dropping as more properties are available and after stamp duty increases in England

Property asking prices slipped in June, as sellers faced the toughest competition in a decade to find buyers.

The “unusual dip” in prices – by 0.3% to £378,420 – compares with an average increase of 0.4% in June over the past 10 years, according to the property portal Rightmove.

Buyer demand is now 3% higher compared with last year, Rightmove found, while the number of homes coming to market is 11% ahead. Such a wide variety of choice means the market is highly price sensitive, the company said.

The government ended temporary stamp duty cuts in England and Northern Ireland in April, adding thousands of pounds to the costs of many transactions this tax year.

Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: “It appears that we’re now seeing the decade-high level of homes for sale, and the recent stamp duty increases in England, have a delayed impact on new sellers’ pricing.

“Agents have been telling us that sellers need to set a competitive price to have a better chance of finding a buyer in the current market, and it looks like many are listening and responding to that message.”

Asking prices fell most rapidly in the south-west, south-east and London in June, down 1.6%, 1% and 0.9% respectively, Rightmove found, highlighting that buyers in these regions were disproportionately affected by recent changes to stamp duty and that some sellers may be reducing their prices to account for this.

The largest increases in available homes for sale compared with last year were also in the south-west, the south-east and London, Rightmove said.

While buyer demand is rising, separate research from the estate agent Hamptons suggests demand in the rental market weakened in May.

There were 17% fewer tenants registering in lettings branches in May compared with the same time last year, it found.

So far this year there have been 1.5 times as many tenants registering to find somewhere to rent compared with each first-time buyer. That is almost half the level when mortgage rates peaked in 2022 and 2023, which priced many potential buyers out of the market.

Read More / Source   The Guardian