Prices to fall this year despite Burnham bounce
Rightmove has downgraded its forecast for this year, suggesting that asking prices will see a drop of up to 2%.
Asking prices are forecast to continue falling this year, despite the change in Prime Minister, Rightmove warns.
Rightmove has downgraded its forecast for this year, suggesting that asking prices will see a drop of up to 2%.
The property portal had previously suggested that asking prices would increase by that amount.
Burnham bounce
The forecast comes despite a ‘mini bounce’ of 5% following Andy Burnham’s arrival in Number 10.
Rightmove said that the new Prime Minister had brought a ‘general boost to optimism’.
Burnham has ruled out property tax changes in October’s Budget, meaning buyers have less reason to “wait around and see what happens”.
Many sellers are recognising the reality of the market and pricing much more competitively from day one.”
Rightmove said asking prices have dropped £7,360 this month on average this month to £364,999.
Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, explains the reality of the current buyers’ market is finally hitting home among vendors.
She says: “This month’s larger-than-usual August price drop is a sign that many sellers are recognising the reality of the market and pricing much more competitively from day one.
“Buyers have the widest choice of homes for sale at this time of year in more than a decade, so standing out on price for the right reasons is hugely important.
“While no seller likes to come to market lower than they might have hoped, Rightmove analysis shows that those who price realistically are statistically proven to be giving themselves the strongest chance of finding a buyer and successfully completing a move.
“One tactic some sellers are using when considering lower offers on their home, is to also make a lower offer themselves on their onwards purchase, to see if they can make up the difference.”
