Hamptons: Price reductions decline as sales 'bounce back'

Price reductions fell to an 18-month low in April as transactions recover faster than prices, new industry data reveals.

Figures from Hamptons, based on activity at around 550 estate agency branches that are part of the Connells Group, showed 44% of homes in England and Wales were sold following a price reduction last month, which is the lowest figure since October 2022. 

This means that after peaking at 56% in October 2023 when high mortgage rates took their toll, price reductions are nearing their pre-Covid average when 42% of sales took place following an asking price reduction, Hamptons said.

The South West and Wales were the only regions where price reductions didn’t decline, according to the research.

Wales is also the only region where more than half of all homes sold after being reduced.          
 
The research also showed the average home in Great Britain that went under offer in April had been on the market for 50 days.  This is one day longer than the same time last year.

Hamptons said 27% of homes that sold last month came onto the market in 2023.

Meanwhile, 27% of homes sold above their final asking price in April, the same level as last year. 
However, there’s been a significant jump in London and the South where 25% of homes sold above their asking price last month, 2% more than in April 2023.  Conversely, 2% fewer homes in the Midlands and the North sold above their asking price compared to the same time last year.

Sellers in the South achieved 98.9% of their final asking price on average in April, 0.5% more than last year.  However, the ratio of asking to achieved prices for sellers in the Midlands only ticked up 0.2% year-on-year, with vendors in the North achieving 0.2% less than last year.

For the first time since 2016, sellers in London are achieving the same proportion of their asking price as those across England & Wales.  This reverses a trend seen over the last eight years when London vendors have been selling at a greater discount than elsewhere, Hamptons said.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: “Areas of the South that were hardest hit when mortgage rates peaked last year, have seen sales bounce back to above both 2023 and 2019 levels.

“Even though the financial markets have rolled back slightly on their rate-cut expectations and mortgage rates for new loans have edged upwards, the number of homes going under offer continues to run 10-20% above last year’s levels. 

“While official house price indices based on completed sales are still recording price falls across much of the South, we expect them to show a return to neutral or even positive territory over the coming months.  The sales being agreed today are only likely to feature in the official house price index in three to four month’s time.

“But a big bounce back in house prices this year still seems unlikely.  High mortgage rates will continue to firmly anchor prices across the South of England in particular. While last year saw transaction volumes hit harder than prices, we’re likely to see the opposite this year.  2024 will see the number of people moving home recover much faster than prices.”