Brexit has been blamed by Rightmove for no sign of the usual spring bounce, with both asking prices and sales agreed falling.
Data from the portal shows asking prices rose by just 0.4% between February and March to £302,002.
This is the lowest average monthly rise at this time of year since 2011, while the figure is down 0.8% annually.
As with most reports coming into the EYE inbox, the finger was firmly pointed at Brexit, which Rightmove blamed for a 7% annual drop in sales agreed for February.
The portal said search activity remains steady, indicating that possible home movers are keeping a “watching brief which could lead to an eventual bounce if and when uncertainty abates”.
Its data showed time on the market was up by six days in February compared with last year to 71, while average stock per agent has increased from 43 to 46 properties over the same period.
Miles Shipside, housing market analyst at Rightmove, said: “While March marks the start of spring, temperatures have yet to rise in the housing market.
“Buying activity remains cooler than usual, with hesitation as some buyers await a more settled political climate.
“There’s greater resilience the further away you get from the London market, and there’s a sound bedrock of demand for the right property at the right price, reinforced by ongoing housing needs combined with cheap mortgage borrowing.
“The closer you get to the wire without the clarity of an agreed way forward, the greater the propensity for buyers to wait and see rather than acting now. This could be a temporary pause, and indeed market slowdowns at election time and around the original referendum result bounced back pretty quickly.
“Markets and people do not like uncertainty, though, and while sales agreed numbers are down by 7%, that means they are still running at 93% of last year’s levels.
“Most potential buyers are getting on with their lives or seeing a price lull as an opportunity to get on to the housing ladder or move to the next rung, with average national asking prices being 0.8% cheaper than a year ago.”
Comments (8)
Yep…………..fell for that one Ric !
More coffee needed, and less wishful thinking !
That said, we are still awaiting a meeting to have the Local Rep explain their fixed term contract. Sounds like a lock-in to me and only when we agree their new rate. Not going to happen.
Don’t think you fell for it scruffy, most would assume it was a believable ending to a statement.
So if Ric’s report on their statement is correct, can we really see a freeze on their subs?
I met Miles at the NAEA conference last month. I asked him how, in the light of the data this report seems to confirm, his local rep was insisting on rises of between 15% and 32%.
After a long pause he started to ask about the size of my agency and how many average instructions each branch had, but basically back-pedalling as he has no argument to raise prices in this market environment.
I’ve told our rep, that we will tolerate no increase. It will be RM’s decision to abandon the income we provide.
In the light of this reported comment, we shall see. My strong suspicion is that a fixed fee package will only be offered once we have agreed a new rate.
RM can whistle for that.
See how believable my comment is! makes complete sense doesn’t it… like it should be said…
Unfortunately… I doubt it even entered their mind.
Ahem….. Rightmove, the Advertising Portal, that doesn’t actually sell property, promoting itself as the authority on ….the bleedin obvious?
What next, Rightmove Weather Report ……there’s going to be wind, rain, showers, sunny/dry spells and some cloud together with the risk of frost/ice …..in some places, across the UK.
WARNING – Rightmove – NOT an Estate Agent. If you the Consumer want to know what’s going on in your local property market, talk to your Local/High Street Estate Agent.
Aw come on EYE, you can’t cut it short…
Rightmove went on to say…. “In light of market conditions and agents working furiously to keep property coming to our website, we have fixed membership for 2 years with a promise only a 5% rise on year 3. We feel this will help estate agents stay open, therefore keep employing people which obviously inturn gives people the positivity to move home. We realise Estate Agents are also normal working folk whom rely on the housing market to tick to move up or down a property ladder, so we want to help the cause as we see the bigger picture”
In their final words they said “We remain internally grateful for Estate Agents (most) making Rightmove the first choice website for most property hunters and allowing us to have such a successful business. We are lucky and we know that without their expertise in bringing the only thing which makes people visit our portal we would be just a web address”.
What about the Brexit BOOM in the north…?
Agebts are cheesed off with you RM and we are leaving in droves. Goodbye.
Wow it’s “dial a cliche” from RM today. Markets don’t like uncertainty etc. The truth is that this has nothing to do with Brexit. Prices are too high and are gently falling. In this environment sales volume will decline. Once prices reach the long term rate of affordability- maybe another 25 per cent down – the market will stabilise.