{"id":279155,"date":"2025-07-21T05:26:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T05:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/279155\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T05:26:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T05:26:14","slug":"extraordinary-buyers-market-emerges-as-vendors-cut-asking-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/279155\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Extraordinary’ buyers market emerges as vendors cut asking prices"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"rightmove<\/p>\n

Vendors are now facing a buyers\u2019 market as a glut of unsold properties means many of them particularly those in London are cutting their asking price to attractive offers, says Rightmove.<\/p>\n

The portal\u2019s latest monthly house price index shows a 1.25 national drop in asking prices during July, reducing the average to \u00a3373,700, although price reductions in the Capital are more severe at 1.5% in it outer suburbs and 2.1% within its central postcodes.<\/p>\n

It says this dip is, despite a traditional reduction in offers as many people go on holiday, the largest reduction in asking prices seen since the portal began collecting data 20 years ago, and that vendors are having to resort to big cuts to attract offers.<\/p>\n

The tactic appears to be working \u2013 sales have increased by 5% and next month may see balance restored to the market; Rightmove reports a 6% jump in buyers enquiring about properties for sale.<\/p>\n

In previous years such a price drop might have been an indicator of a slower market.<\/p>\n

But \u2018tempting pricing\u2019 from new sellers is helping to improve buyer affordability, enticing new buyers into enquiring, and helping year-on-year growth in the numbers of sales being agreed.<\/p>\n

The portal claims that pricing is key, and sellers who are over-optimistic on their initial asking price are increasingly at risk of getting lost among the competition.<\/p>\n

Interesting dynamic<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing an interesting dynamic between pricing and activity levels right now,\u201d says Colleen<\/strong> Babcock<\/strong>, Rightmove\u2019s Head of Partner Marketing (main image).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe healthy and improving level of property sales being agreed shows us that there are motivated buyers out there who are willing to finalise a deal for the right property.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s most important to remember in this market is that the price is key to selling. The decade-high level of buyer choice means that discerning buyers can quickly spot when a home looks over-priced compared to the many others that may be available in their area.<\/p>\n

Industry reaction\"\"Jeremy Leaf<\/p>\n

Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent<\/a> and a former RICS residential chairman<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s particularly interesting about these figures is that they confirm what we\u2019ve been seeing on the ground recently,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsking prices are not of course values but invariably an owner\u2019s aspirational starting point to determine if genuine buyers are attracted.<\/p>\n

\u201cSales are still being agreed but nearly always with sellers who have recognised the importance of setting a realistic initial figure to differentiate themselves from so much other, often similar, property.<\/p>\n

\u201cOtherwise, buyers will take even more time waiting for the \u2018right\u2019 property and perhaps worrying about the possibility of autumn tax rises despite improving affordability \u2013 including the likelihood of imminent\u00a0mortgage rate cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"emerson\"Nathan Emerson, Chief Executive, Propertymark<\/p>\n

\u201cThe housing market is witnessing a steady return to normality following Stamp Duty threshold changes for those living in England and Northern Ireland at the start of April,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we enter the summer months, when the housing market tends to achieve a peak in sales in activity, it is good to see yet further resilience in house prices year on year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen encouraging signs from Rachel Reeves\u2019 Leeds Reforms<\/a><\/strong> which are designed to potentially better help lenders serve those on lower incomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, such reforms alone will not help keep house prices manageable without the UK Government and the devolved administrations meeting their individual housing targets to keep pace with real world demand.\u201d<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vendors are now facing a buyers\u2019 market as a glut of unsold properties means many of them particularly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3091],"tags":[51,2441,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-279155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-markets","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-markets","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114889568726403163","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}