A former operations director at Strike who now runs his own estate agency is warning property sellers they need to lower prices.

Jack Malnick, MD of Sell House Fast (main image, inset), says vendors may face long waits to sell if they don’t price their home realistically.

“Growth has stalled at just 0.8% and there are considerably more homes on the market than interested buyers.

“Sellers there [the South and London] are being pushed to reduce expectations, or risk sitting on the market,” he says.

Shrinking

Homeowners in the South and London are facing the most difficult decisions at present, with price drops common.

The north-south divide is now “shrinking”, he claims, with the North seeing healthy increases.

“Homes are more affordable [in the North], and buyer interest remains active, especially from investors,” he says.

For years, owners in the south have had the upper hand.”

“For years, owners in the south have had the upper hand, but studying recent pricing and growth suggests that the northern markets are making up for lost time.”

Malnick started Sellhousefast.uk in October last year. Most recently, he was Chief Operating Officer with estate agency Sold.co.uk. He was also previously Operations Director at Strike for four years, having started his career with Foxtons.

Falling fastest

Rightmove figures released this week showed asking prices softened in June by 0.3% to £378,240.

Prices had been falling fastest in London, the South East and South West where the higher Stamp Duty rates bite the hardest, it said.

And yesterdays Bank of England announcement to hold the base interest rate at 4.25% will not have helped the market.

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