Number of homes selling over asking price dips as market softens

The proportion of properties selling above asking price has dipped according to Propertymark - a likely sign the market is softening at last.

Even so, the proportion is still 27 per cent, albeit down from 37 per cent in August.

The trade body’s latest market snapshot, reflecting the position at the end of September, says activity is still strong as sales agreed per branch rose from nine in August to 11.

The number of properties marketed stays at 23 per branch in September, the same as in August. This figure is uncharacteristically low and is a 44 per cent decrease from September 2020. 

Agents attribute this low figure to what they call “unrelenting” demand meaning properties sell faster than new ones are coming to market.

Meanwhile the average number of house hunters registered per branch stood at 458 in September, a steady increase from 435 in August and 428 in July.

The number of sales made to first time buyers is holding steady at 27 per cent, a marginal fall from 28 per cent in August; the number of buy to let sales fell from 11 per cent in August to nine per cent in September.

Propertymark’s chief executive, Nathan Emerson, says: “Figures from September tell an interesting story of a market that may be beginning to shift. Sales being agreed has increased, but the number of sales achieving over the asking price has reduced, meaning we may start to see an end to the bidding wars that have been so prevalent.

“It’s also interesting to note that although the number of properties available to buy is lower than we have seen before in September, it hasn’t dropped since August meaning that just enough properties are coming to market to satisfy demand.”