More than a third of homes for sale have had asking prices slashed - Rightmove

Asking prices are being cut at the fastest rate for more than a decade, the latest insight from Rightmove reveals.

The number of homes for sale which have had at least one price reduction is at its highest level since January 2011, according to the property portal’s latest House Price Index.

According to the data, 36.1% of homes listed for sale have had their asking prices reduced, compared to the high of 31.2% recorded more than 12 years ago.

The average price reduction was also the highest since January 2011 at 6.2%, versus the five-year pre-pandemic average of 5.5%. For the average asking price of £366,281, this is a reduction of £22,709.

In August, asking prices went up marginally by 0.4%, bringing the annual price change drop to -0.4%, the biggest drop since March 2019.

The number of new properties coming up for sale in August was 6% lower than the 10-year average. Sales agreed were also down 18% in August compared to the same month in 2019.

This subdued August housing market follows 14 consecutive interest rate rises and can also be explained by the summer holidays, Rightmove’s analysis suggests.

It points to signs of improvement in September, with the number of new properties coming to market increasing by 12% in the first week.

Mortgage rates are also continuing to fall with the average five-year fixed mortgage at 5.67%, the seventh consecutive week of five-year fixed rates dropping, after peaking at 6.11% in July.

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“It’s been a slower than usual August, so all eyes will be on market activity over the next few weeks, which will set the trend for the rest of the year ,” Rightmove’s Tim Bannister, said in a statement.

“The combination of 14 consecutive Bank of England interest rate rises and many buyers and sellers still catching up on lost pandemic holidays has contributed to a bigger than expected summer lull, though we still anticipate an autumn bounce.”

Estate agent Andy McHugo, director at McHugo Homes in Birmingham, said: “In almost twenty years of selling homes I feel that this summer and last summer have been the most subdued, perhaps due to the impact of not being able to travel in the summers of 2020 and 2021, but obviously with the current economic backdrop also.”