First-time buyers have quickly returned to the property market but they may find that any hopes of the pandemic pushing prices down are dashed, Rightmove claims.
The portal said the number of full property details viewed on its website has recovered from a 35% annual drop at the lowest point during the market closure on April 6th, to now being up 2% on this time last year.
A survey by Rightmove during lockdown found 60% of first-time buyers had postponed their purchase plans but would go ahead after restrictions are eased, while 34% went ahead regardless of restrictions on buying and selling.
There is £60bn worth of the type of housing stock usually sought by first-time buyers currently on the market and asking prices are 2% higher at, on average, £241,891, Rightmove said, suggesting that predictions of large drops are yet to materialise.
This means the average first-time buyer applying for a mortgage would require £24,189 for a 10% deposit or £36,284 if 15% is needed, Rightmove said.
The largest deposit is needed in London at £47,757 for a 90% loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage, rising to £71,635 for 85% LTV.
Buyers can put down the smallest amount in Bradford where an average 10% deposit is £8,995 and an average 15% deposit is £13,492
Miles Shipside, housing market analyst for Rightmove, said:
“Many first-time buyers looking to grab a bargain right now may find they’re disappointed, as on the whole asking prices of all first-time buyer properties up for sale have been holding up.
“There will of course be some sellers who need to sell quickly and may be willing to negotiate on price so it’s worth asking a local agent if there’s any with this predicament if you do now need to lower your budget.
“However, where demand is outstripping supply and it’s an attractive property in a desirable location then an offer closer to the asking price will have a better chance of being accepted.
“If a property is over-priced it’s usually pretty obvious by looking at similar properties up for sale on Rightmove in the same area, or by using sold prices to find out how much properties nearby sold for recently, so this should help prospective buyers feel more confident that they know how much they should be offering.”
|
City
|
Average asking price April 2020 |
Average asking price April 2019 |
Annual % price change |
Average 10% deposit |
Average 15% deposit |
|
London |
£477,569 |
£467,999 |
2.0% |
£47,757 |
£71,635 |
|
Manchester |
£167,778 |
£162,478 |
3.3% |
£16,778 |
£25,167 |
|
Birmingham |
£158,728 |
£159,764 |
-0.6% |
£15,873 |
£23,809 |
|
Bristol |
£240,686 |
£232,686 |
3.4% |
£24,069 |
£36,103 |
|
Liverpool |
£112,249 |
£111,691 |
0.5% |
£11,225 |
£16,837 |
|
Nottingham |
£143,936 |
£132,314 |
8.8% |
£14,394 |
£21,590 |
|
Bournemouth |
£213,161 |
£213,496 |
-0.2% |
£21,316 |
£31,974 |
|
Newcastle Upon Tyne |
£127,231 |
£124,491 |
2.2% |
£12,723 |
£19,085 |
|
Leeds |
£138,987 |
£137,948 |
0.8% |
£13,899 |
£20,848 |
|
Southampton |
£174,519 |
£174,487 |
0.0% |
£17,452 |
£26,178 |
|
Sheffield |
£129,721 |
£130,176 |
-0.4% |
£12,972 |
£19,458 |
|
Plymouth |
£143,058 |
£139,694 |
2.4% |
£14,306 |
£21,459 |
|
Leicester |
£150,620 |
£147,226 |
2.3% |
£15,062 |
£22,593 |
|
Brighton |
£309,599 |
£306,249 |
1.1% |
£30,960 |
£46,440 |
|
Portsmouth |
£178,431 |
£175,249 |
1.8% |
£17,843 |
£26,765 |
|
Stoke-On-Trent |
£100,800 |
£101,002 |
-0.2% |
£10,080 |
£15,120 |
|
Hull |
£97,589 |
£95,708 |
2.0% |
£9,759 |
£14,638 |
|
Bolton |
£114,339 |
£107,217 |
6.6% |
£11,434 |
£17,151 |
|
Reading |
£247,129 |
£249,942 |
-1.1% |
£24,713 |
£37,069 |
|
Bradford |
£89,948 |
£85,413 |
5.3% |
£8,995 |
£13,492 |
It’ll be so much easier if everyone just admitted what was happening or about to happen in the property market. The entire economy is going into free fall and the housing market is not exempt from that.
Demand means nothing if there’s an unprecedented spike in supply, accompanied by mortgage lenders that are strict on lending!
You are doing yourselves and your clients a disservice by not having honest conversations with them.
House prices are going to drastically drop and we have to position our clients to sell at a better price today, even if reduced than a terrible price tomorrow.
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Care to state how you are going to cope with the upset if property prices DON’T freefall like you’re seemingly hoping for, nextchapter?
Your post reads like a poor salesman looking for excuses before he’s even made his pitch.
IF and WHEN prices drop – then that’s the time to tackle the situation. Until then – which is when someone far better placed to call it calls it – do your clients a service and get on with the bliddy job, man!
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Really?
So, after one week of some agents opening, the ONS having suspended the House Price Index for April (due to such low volumes), Indicators in March showed the market was already slowing down prior to the “Lockdown”.
Analysts from Deutche Bank warn prices may fall by 20% with Lloyds PL planning for a worst case scenario of 30%. The Bank of England a modest 12%.
One of the biggest factors to affect the market is the availability of mortgage funds. There is already evidence that lenders are tightening their criteria. MoneyFacts (A financial analyst company) have produced a report that available products for borrowers with a 5% deposit has reduced from 393 to just 30, whilst the number of products available for buyers with a 10% deposit has reduced from 780 to 87.
Interestingly enough, Rightmove warned in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph that some buyers would be forced to wait until the number of small deposit loans had returned to its previous levels.
Miles Shipside said although house prices had not fallen YET, many sellers are willing to consider to offers.
It would be interesting if Rightmove published a comparative list for PRICES ACHIEVED APRIL 2019, but I suspect that might show prices were significantly lower.
There is an increasing of opinion supporting he view there will be a period where sellers won’t wish to drop, and buyers don’t want to pay the asking price. Actual transactions levels will be modest taken the summer (July & August) have not historically been the strongest.
There will of course be sellers who are forced to sell and will drop their prices.
With the vast majority of analysts predicting a fall in house values, why would the first-time buyer purchases be the exception?
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Demand & expectations maybe high, however people need to be employed to pay a mortgage.
Considering a big chunk of the population are furloughed and the jobs they are furloughed from may well not be there when the furlough scheme ends.
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Yet another vanilla article from the industry’s biggest parasite.
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Harsh thing to say about Marc Shoffman
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