Pricing Correctly is Key to a Quick and Successful Sale
Price is key as sellers compete for buyers with a big July price drop
- The average price of property coming to the market for sale drops by 1.2% (-£4,531) this month to £373,709. With the number of available homes still at a decade-high level, summer sellers are pricing even more competitively to attract buyer interest:
- London is the biggest regional driver of new seller asking price falls this month (-1.5%), led by Inner London (-2.1%)
- Realistic and competitive pricing is key to selling, both improving buyer affordability and stimulating stronger buyer activity:
- The number of sales being agreed is 5% higher than at this time last year
- The number of potential future buyers contacting estate agents about homes for sale is 6% higher than last year
- Average new seller asking prices are now just 0.1% higher than they were a year ago. With lower mortgage rates and average wage rises outstripping both house prices and inflation, overall buyer affordability continues to improve
- Rightmove’s mortgage tracker shows that the average two-year fixed mortgage rate is 4.53%, compared with 5.34% at this time last year, a saving of nearly £150 per month on a typical new mortgage:
- The markets are currently forecasting two more Bank Rate cuts this year, which would help to further stimulate activity
- At the halfway point of the year, Rightmove is reducing its price forecast for 2025 from +4% to +2%, as the high level of seller competition is limiting price growth, and retaining its prediction of 1.15 million transactions this year
“We’re seeing an interesting dynamic between pricing and activity levels right now. The healthy and improving level of property sales being agreed shows us that there are motivated buyers out there who are willing to finalise a deal for the right property. What’s most important to remember in this market is that the price is key to selling. The decade-high level of buyer choice means that discerning buyers can quickly spot when a home looks over-priced compared to the many others that may be available in their area. It appears that more new sellers are conscious of this and are responding to this high-supply market with stand-out pricing to entice buyers and get their home sold.
“It’s been a promising first half of the year for activity levels, particularly when you consider that some will have brought their plans forward to try to avoid added stamp duty from April. Even after the stamp duty deadline, we’re seeing more sales being agreed and more new potential buyers entering the market than at the same time last year. Still, the knock-on effect of high buyer choice is slower price growth, so we’re revising down our prediction of how much the asking price of a home will increase over the whole of the year. Looking ahead to the second half of 2025, there will still very likely be the usual quieter seasonal periods around the summer holidays and Christmas, but we expect market activity to continue to be resilient. Crucially, buyer affordability is heading in the right direction, and another two Bank Rate cuts before 2026 would be a big boost to this.”
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