Top-end estate agents such as Knight Frank have reported a glut of homes going on sale, with some sellers knocking 10% off house prices.
This news is particularly relevant to people investment planning in the Cheshire and Oswestry property market. With a high supply and mortgages driven up by the Middle East crisis, sellers are increasingly accepting big discounts. Figures recorded between July and September showed that those contracts exchanged went for an average 90.6% of the original asking price. This means that a house marketed at £300,000 sold for £271,800 whilst a £500,000 property fetched £453,000.
Some buying agents have reported discounts up to 26% beneath asking prices, particularly on new builds, smaller apartments and properties that were once buy-to-lets. This trend represents a notable change from the high demand of the immediate post-pandemic years, when buyers were able to capitalise on cheaper mortgages and a stamp-duty holiday.
New data from TwentyCI reveals that the premium end of the market has been struggling. Properties priced at £2 million or more were found to be 50% less likely to sell compared to those priced at under £2 million. They also took double the amount of time to nail a buyer, whilst offering discounts of nearly £250,000.
The current state of the market presents a quandary for sellers in terms of whether to reduce the price further or even sell at all. Data from London shows that for every 100 sales concluded, another 62 homes were simply taken off the market, a higher percentage than elsewhere in the UK.
