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Market cools as number of home sales achieving asking price falls in September

Fri 29 Oct 2021

The volume of property selling for above the asking price has seen a 10% month-on-month decline, according to newly released data, signalling the first signs of the market beginning to settle and the end of months of intense bidding wars.

The latest market analysis from NAEA Propertymark reports that, in August, 37% of properties agreed sales above the original asking price. However, this fell to 27% during September despite a 22% rise in activity.

The number of sales made to FTBs is holding steady at 27%, a marginal fall from 28% in August. The number of buy-to-let sales fell from 11% in August to 9% in September.

The number of properties being marketed is continuing to hold at 23 per branch in September, the same as in August. This figure is uncharacteristically low and year on year is a 44% decrease from September 2020. Agents contribute this low figure to the unrelenting demand meaning properties are being sold faster than new ones are coming to market.

Demand from house hunters

The average number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch stood at 458 in September, this shows a steady increase from 435 in August and 428 in July.

Nathan Emerson, Chief Executive, Propertymark comments: “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.