Asking prices have soared to a new record high, driven by high demand and low supply, according to Rightmove.
There are 6% fewer properties coming to the market than this time last year as home owners stay put.
Separately, Nationwide has said that home mover activity remains 52% down from its peak, with first-time buyer levels 26% below the pre-crunch level.
This morning Rightmove reports the biggest September rise for 13 years in asking prices for properties new to the market.
The average new asking price is now £294,834 – up 0.9% on August and 6.4% on a year ago.
Marked regional variations push Surrey to the top of the leader board, where the average asking price of a property new to the market is now £545,841.
In London the average asking price has shot up 2.2% in a month to stand at £620,003.
The 15 most expensive counties are all in the south, where property listings are down 7.1%. In the north, there are also fewer properties on the market, down 4.9%.
In the north, the midlands and Wales, asking prices have all slipped on a monthly basis.
For example, the average asking price of a property new to the market in the north-east is £144,219, down 3.2%. In Yorkshire & the Humber it has dipped 0.4% from August.
Rightmove said that the falls in the lower-priced regions are reducing would-be sellers’ ability to raise adequate funds to move, and exacerbating supply shortages.
Despite London’s overall rise in new asking prices, some areas have had significant monthly slides in asking prices – including a 12.5% fall in Westminster.
The average number of properties for sale per branch is 63, compared with 69 in September last year.
Although Rightmove labels this morning’s index as “September”, in fact most of the new asking prices were measured in August. Altogether, Rightmove measured 134,029 new asking prices between August 9 and September 12.
Speaking at the Financial Services Expo in London, Nationwide senior economist Stefano Silvestrin said that in the mortgage market, home moving and first-time buying activity are both down from their pre-credit crunch peak, while buy-to-let transactions are down 44%.
He said that only cash transactions are ahead of their pre-crunch peak, up 3%.
He said the major risk to the entire UK housing market is the continued poor supply of homes on the market.
* Hamptons has updated its price forecast predictions for the housing market. It now expects house prices across England and Wale to rise 5% this year and 4.5% next.
It had previously forecast a price rise this year of just 2.5%, and 3.5% next year.
Anyone else feel that “house prices rising because supply is low and demand is high” is beginning to lose its novelty a headline? This is going to keep going for a long time, brothers and sisters, the interesting question is “how do we stop the trend?”
Nobody seems to have a straightforward answer AND be willing to utilise it, unfortunately.
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Easy, Raise interest rates, soon find buyers dry up and sellers cant sell, sort the men from the boys and see an end to online only agents 😉
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Can you expand further on why an interest rate rise see an end to Online estate agents ?
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Of course.
At the moment online agents are masquerading as traditional agents offering a like for like service (they are not).
Truth is they are just listers that place a property on a portal and hope a description and a picture sells a property.
They do not proactively sell property, they do not chain build, they do only basic sales progression.
In a sellers market their system and offering works to an extent (the seller may not get best price or service but they can sell it).
In a buyers market you need to be far more proactive, have in the words of Liam Neeson “A very particular set of skills”
The public will not accept 12 months to sell a property, they also will not want to part with money upfront. They will also get fed up of sales falling through.
The same will be said for poor high street agents that are “Winging it”
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Many online agents appear to members of the suggested regulatory bodies so the public does have a process to follow should there be deputes.
Given the investment made, if the market forces change significantly from sellers market to buyers then the smart online agents will quickly and simply adapt the model rather than lose momentum. Most likely an increase in staff and maybe a minor adjustment in pricing to fund the change.
If public behavior changes en-mass (and from my view there is no stopping online agents) then people will adapts to the new and rarely returns to the old because the ‘old’ will cease to exist.
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I guess we have differing opinions, and are probably at different ends of the industry.
All i will say is onlines agents say they save money because they do not have “Expensive High Street Offices” this is false as commercial rents are relatively cheap and comparable to serviced offices where online agents are based.
The only saving they are making is on staff, And as you point out when the market changes online agents will need to change their offering. If that is in staff investment they will have to raise their prices so not as much of a saving. Also staff are not too bothered if the sale goes through as the company have already taken their money.
Put it this way, have you ever called a phone provider, bank or utilities companies call center and felt like they understand your problem and sorted it or do they pass the buck?
This will be the same with online agents, call centers do not care about going the extra mile in general as they are often paid minimum wage and it is not based on performance.
A high street neg is paid a sensible bonus once the job is done. In a buyers market that makes all the difference to the customer.
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“I guess we have differing opinions, and are probably at different ends of the industry.”
Well… considering that:
“Che said:
February 17, 2015 at 10:06 am
Don’t forget that us ‘onliners ‘ or ‘low fee agents’ operate with lower overheads so i can confidently report that the business strategy is sound.”
…then I guess that pretty much settles it, ‘smile please’!
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Ahhh well there you go!
My comments are aimed at the perceived million pound businesses which are in my opinion grossly overvalued (we all know the likes).
Che maybe part of one of these or a “Bedroom agent”
I have yet to see a bedroom agent make any real money.
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and I’m still happy to report that business strategy is sound.
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Apologies if I’m butting in but in my day (I spent 20 years from a trainee, neg/manager, area direc and eight as a 3bnch owner manager before selling in 2002), the initial sale was invariable the ‘easy bit’. Ensuring the chain stayed intact to exchange was more often the challenge.. and this is where online agents tend to fall down. The level of personal involvement we (I) provided often meant the difference between a sale and cancellation and on more than a few occasions, prevented buyer and seller coming to blows.. Online agents expecting sellers to chase their own sales is ludicrous and charging extra to chase themselves is just a waste of money as it will entail no more than a few rudimently (‘is everything ok’), not key negotiation skills that often keep the sale alive after the initial offer..
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Not all online agents expect sellers to chase their own sales and in the main, the ones that don’t make it clear at the start that its a service you wont get. The vendor chooses. Conversely, having been involved in many chains I can confidently report (shock horror) that not all high Street agent chase their sales either and when they not its with passive aggressive agenda based more around getting and invoice out.
The different as far as the vendor is concerned is he expects a sales checking service and is aggrieved when they feel its hasn’t happened or done badly.
Online agents marketing is cutting through, (impart) because they make the proposition clearer and offer choice through options. I the customer chooses a full hand holding local company they will choose the high street, if not and they feel able and want to be in control they wont.
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BTW, i’m writing this on an iphone hence the typos….but I think the point of discussion is there ?!
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Hi Che.. I take your point.. there are good and bad agents but assuming all agents are good, then a traditional agent has a higher % chance of retaining his/her sales to exchange by sales chasing themselves as opposed to the vendor doing their own.. plus, its all very well the vendors deciding they want to chase their own sale but when it does fall through you can bet it will the agent they will blame, nomatter.. plus, if they”ve paid an upfront fee, they will start getting aggrieved.. after all, with a trad agent, all they will have lost is time..
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