Brian Murphy, Head of Lending for Mortgage Advice Bureau Comments on the Rightmove House Price Index;
"The monthly Rightmove House Price Index provides us with data drawn from estate agencies across the country at the point of marketing properties for sale. It therefore gives us an up-to-date view of the UK housing market in terms of consumer sentiment and activity, rather than historical data using completed transaction figures or values.
Today’s report suggests that asking prices have cooled over the last month, which is slightly earlier than normal as usually we would expect to see a similar pattern emerge in December in the final weeks before the Christmas holidays. However, given current political and economic headwinds, this may be the result of estate agents providing their clients with pragmatic advice that vendors are taking that on board, particularly if they are motivated to move in the short term.
This cooling vendor expectation, coupled with mortgage lenders who are pricing competitively to capture available market share in the lead up to the end of the year, means that the current climate may offer a distinct window of opportunity for some buyers. For those who need to sell in order to move home it’s worth remembering that, in this sort of environment, any reduction that a vendor may accept on their desired asking price is likely, if they are trading up, to be less than they themselves will be able to negotiate on their onward purchase.
Also, whilst the current market in London and the South East may be slower than we’ve seen for much of this year, we know that other regions, such as the Midlands, Wales, Scotland and Yorkshire and the Humber, are still seeing strong buyer demand which is a continuation of the divergent market we’ve seen all year. It certainly suggests that there is still significant buyer confidence around the UK.”