House price cuts hit their highest level for nine years

Price reductions have reached their highest level in at least nine years according to estate agency Hamptons.  

Some 50 per cent of homes in England & Wales sold in July had seen a price reduction in July, up from 47 per cent in June. 

A statement from the agency says: “It seems as though higher mortgage rates were the catalyst for reducing seller expectations of their home’s value, many of whom had previously been holding firm.  It took 73 days for the average seller to reduce their home last month, 17 days longer than in June.”

Most of the increase in price reductions were applied to affordable homes where sales were more likely to be needs-based and where higher mortgage rates had hit hardest. At the other end of the scale, £1m+ sellers were less likely to reduce their price, with cash playing a bigger role at this end of the market.

Some 54 per cent of homes sold below their asking price across England & Wales in July, the highest share since December 2022.  

On average, buyers achieved a 4.5 per cent discount. Larger homes, that have seen the strongest price growth over the last few years have been more likely to sell below their asking price than last year.

Even so, the average seller in England & Wales achieved 98.6 per cent of their asking price in July.  This is above the figure recorded pre-Covid in July 2019 of 98.0 per cent.

Finally, Hamptons says it took the average seller in Great Britain 49 days on average to accept an offer on their home last month, making it the slowest July to sell a home since 2013.  

Time to sell has increased the most for £1m+ homes, which again suggests that sellers are happy to hold out until they receive an acceptable offer.

Hamptons' market information is compiled using data from some 550 estate agency branches across Great Britain who form part of its parent company, the Connells Group.