According to Rightmove, the property search website, in November the average property was on the market for £222,979. This was a monthly drop of 2.9% from the average price of £229.691 in October and means a 7.1% drop over the year. Even so the strong belief is that these asking prices are still too high when the actual sales prices being achieved are around some 20% below peak prices.
Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said ‘Some sellers could avoid months of disillusionment and despair if they started marketing at an asking price a lot closer to where the evidence indicates they are likely to end up.’ Rightmove have also said they are seeing an increase in gazundering, where the buyer waits until both sides are ready to exchange and then lowers their offer. All this adds to the stress of trying to complete house sales in this market.
The number of people putting property on the market is down to 20,000, way down from the 35,000 in the same week period last year. Many sellers are sitting tight until the outlook improves. At the moment this seems some way off.
Times must be hard as one look at the raft of TV programs that are now starting to appear demonstrates. I noticed this morning the BBC were running ‘How to Survive the Property Crisis’ and then this evening there is ‘Location Location, Location: A Survival Guide’ in which Kirstie Alsop and Phil Spencer are on hand to give their expert advice on how to survive the credit crunch. A far cry from their previous show promise of how to find your dream home!
