Sellers reducing asking prices over summer period

July 20, 2024 by Brendan O'Neill

House Prices

New property market figures indicate that sellers are reducing the prices they are asking for their homes, in an attempt to get deals over the line during the annual summer slump period.

These figures are taken from the property price index published by Rightmove. They show a 0.4% drop in the average asking price during July. That means the average price being sought for a property in the UK this month is £373,493. The main reason being cited for this is a desire to get the attention of potential buyers during a time of the year when the market usually slows down.

While summer is traditionally a fallow period for house sales, this summer has a particularly high number of possible distractions for buyers. These include sporting events including the Euro 2024 football tournament, as well as the recent election.

Rightmove is suggesting that these are factors behind the sharper than normal drop in average asking prices. However, it also points out that the amount of activity within the property market did not change significantly during the lengthy election campaign. Furthermore, there are 3% more new sellers now than there were in July 2023 and agreed sales numbers are 15% higher.

Speaking to Mortgage Strategy, Tim Bannister from Rightmove stated that;