The property market has made a brisk start to the New Year, with estate agents reporting a surge of interest from both buyers and sellers.
But Novemberโs fall in average prices serves as a chastening reminder to sellers of just how much competition they face in securing a buyer.
Compared to October, the prices paid fell in more than half of Englandโs regions in November. Even though the annual figures still show a reassuringly sedate upward trajectory, the monthly data reveals just how keen pricing has become.
Prices fell by a full 1% in London during November, which may be a whiplash effect from the tax rises announced by the Chancellor in her Budget at the end of October. The capital is once again seeing prices fall on an annual basis too, as price-sensitive buyers negotiate hard on price or look elsewhere.
This is also why regions where value is perceived as strongest are seeing prices rise rapidly. Prices in North East England jumped by 1.1% in November alone, and have surged by 5.9% on an annual basis. Itโs a similar picture in the North West and in Yorkshire and the Humber, where annual price inflation is a breathless 5.7%.
The property market is healthy and the January jump in activity is kicking in, but the abundance of homes for sale is putting buyers in the driving seat. With mortgage interest rates unlikely to come down as quickly as had been hoped, many buyers are using their strong bargaining position to ask for, and get, discounts.
Anyone planning to put their home on the market in the coming months will need to price it competitively or risk seeing it sit on the shelf.
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