Price-cutting of homes on sale at three-year high says website

A property website monitoring the housing market claims that the propertion of homes cutting their prices whilst on the market has reached a three year high.

This is “a key warning sign showing the fragility of the current market” across England and Wales according to the website Home. 

It also warns that the typical time on the market that it calculates for properties on sale has now risen to 91 days - two days more than a month ago.

Home also warns that stock volumes are rising as “vendors begin to flood the market” with supply up by 11 per cent year-on-year across England and Wales.

However, there are much higher proportional rises in many areas - 19 per cent more in Greater London than in September 2015 with the East of England supply up a whopping 30 per cent and the South East region up 23 per cent. In London the typical time on the market is now 18 per cent higher than this time in 2015.

“A rise in demand to match appears unlikely as we head into the slower part of the property year. The supply trend continues to be upward and we expect further price falls over the coming months” warns Home. 

The website says that for the time being, prices in the East of England continue to rise at dramatic pace despite rising supply. Prices there have increased by 11.5 per cent over the last 12 months, making this the UK’s best performing region by a considerable margin.

Home’s index is calculated using around 500,000 house prices found in the website’s search index; it says this represents the majority of properties for sale on the open market.