‘Deal rush’ reported as buyers try to complete before loans expire

OnTheMarket (OTM) says buyers are rushing to secure properties before their pre-mini budget mortgage deals expire, shortening the ‘time to sell’ pipeline within the housing market.

The portal says it has seen more properties moving quickly from initial marketing to sale; 60% of properties were SSTC within 30 days of being advertised for sale last month, a percentage not seen since June, and higher than the 53% recorded in September.

This is likely to be driven by an urgency among buyers with mortgage agreements secured some time ago, who may be keen to proceed before those offers expire.

OTM says this is ‘understandable’ as many of these rates will be significantly lower than current mortgage rates, which shot up following the financial market volatility following Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget.

deals done

This is likely to be helping focus buyers’ minds and encourage them to put pressure on their conveyancers to get deals done before the expiry date.

Its CEO Jason Tebb (pictured) says: “The forecast for where rates might peak has fallen as some of the market turmoil has dissipated.

“Rock-bottom interest rates aren’t normal or sustainable and the new norm, which is slowly starting to establish itself, is beginning to look a lot like the old one”.

OTM’s monthly Sentiment Index also reveals vendor and buyer confidence remaining robust despite gloomy national newspaper headlines; 82% of sellers were confident that they will sell their property within the next three months.