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Three-quarters of homes now sell for under the asking price

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
30/06/2017

Demand for housing is down, according to one report

A massive 77% of homes sold for less than their asking price in May, according to NAEA Propertymark (National Association of Estate Agents) – up five percentage points from April.

The association also found that only 3% of properties were sold for more than asking price, down four percentage points over the month and the lowest level recorded since October.
 
Demand down

Demand for housing dropped to a six-month low, as the number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch fell by eight per cent last month – from 381 in April to 350 in May.

The NAEA said this was not surprising and puts the fall down to ‘political uncertainty ahead of the General Election’.

Supply of properties available to buy rose by 11% last month to an average of 40 per estate agency branch, slightly higher than this time last year. The number of sales agreed per branch also rose, from eight in April to 10 in May.
 
Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark, said: “As a rule of thumb, periods of political uncertainty impact the way buyers and sellers interact with the housing market.

“In May, it looks like new buyers were stalling their house search until after the election; however the number of sales agreed per branch increased meaning the political landscape hasn’t deterred all house hunters. Following the result of the general election, it will be interesting to see how the market reacts over the coming months as summer is peak house-moving season.”