An increasing number of sellers are withdrawing their properties from the market.

More than one third of sellers removed their property from marketing websites last month – the highest number since September 2020. The reason for the fall is down to buyers offering sums much lower than hoped for by the seller.

The research, by property researchers TwentyCi, shows buyers are hoping to cash in on the slowing down of the property market. This, however, is having a negative effect since it means fewer properties are available to buy and those that are listed, are more likely to retain their price. Overall though, the result, is increasing stagnation in the marketplace.

Analysts are confident that many of these withdrawn properties will come back onto the market in the spring, when the activity is traditionally strongest. The majority of withdrawn properties are in central London where prices are highest. Sellers there tend to be able to afford to ‘wait it out.’

Shrinking market caused by ‘over-inflated’ prices

One reason for sellers withdrawing their properties is that they were merely’ testing out’ the market anyway with an over-inflated price. In other words, they were in no hurry to move. Other genuine sellers are realising they’ve missed the price bonanza and removing property in order to rethink their strategy. Certainly, with mortgage rates expected to fall as the year goes on, there is hope the market with enjoy a revival of buyers.

Figures from the government’s Office for Budget Responsibility, revealed last week, show property prices are expected to fall by around 10 per cent from their peak last year. This is an increase of one per cent greater than was previously predicted.

Poor Ofsted ratings affecting house prices

Meanwhile house sellers who live in the vicinity of a state school with a failing Ofsted record, may be forced to take £20,000 of the price of their property.

The government’s school grading system is having a marked effect on house prices, says a survey by Hamptons estate agents. Their research shows that the price of properties with a catchment area for a school that had been downgraded by just one point (ie from ‘good’ to ‘needs improvement’) were two per cent lower than their nearby equivalents.

A two grade-drop was even more detrimental to sellers, with a five per cent drop in the value of their property. That’s an average of around £20,171.

Around 80 per cent of top rated schools downgraded

The schools Ofsted inspectors graded had all been marked as ‘outstanding’ in 2012. But, a decade later, up to 80 per cent of these education establishments had been downgraded. Four per cent had been re-graded as “inadequate.” In one area – Plymouth with Millbay Academy – house prices fell by 11 per cent last year.

Of course, the converse is true too. A one grade improvement can result in a property price boost of £4,731 (one per cent), while property sellers in an area where a school has received a two-grade boost can expect to sell for, on average, an additional £22,088 (or six per cent).

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Around 442,000 homes would need to be built annually for the next 25 years in order to relieve the UK’s housing crisis. That’s according to a report by the leading economic think tank for cities and town centres. 

The Centre for Cities analysis shows the UK is short of 4.3 million homes. With the government’s promise to build 300,000 homes a year, it would take 50 years to fix. Worst hit is the Greater South East, while in England as a whole a typical house is more than 10 times the average salary.

UK’s housing crisis dates back to post-WW2

The report says Britain’s housing supply problem dates back to 1947 and the introduction of the Town and Country Planning Act. This is contrary to the belief by many that it was the Tory government’s Right to Buy legislation, introduced in the 1980s, that was the main culprit, particularly since council house building was also cut back at the time.

Comparing the UK’s housing history with that of it is continental neighbours, the report points to a drop in house building of more than one third after the introduction of the 1947 Act. It went from a housing growth of two per cent a year up to 1939 and to 1.2 per cent from 1947 to today.

Call for change to current planning system

Changing the discretionary planning system that local authorities currently use, to a new rules-based, flexible zoning system would greatly improve the rate of new house building, insists the organisation.

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive, Centre for Cities said: “UK planning policy has held back the economy for nearly three quarters of a century, stifling growth and exacerbating a housing crisis that has blighted the country for decades.

“Big problems require big solutions and if the Government is to clear its backlog of unbuilt homes, it must first deliver planning reform.”

Sellers reducing property prices by around 4.5 per cent

Meanwhile, for those who do have a property and are looking to sell, be prepared to reduce the asking price by around £14,000. That’s according to property portal Zoopla’s latest report which shows sellers are cutting prices by an average of 4.5 per cent. In London and the South East of England the cut is slightly bigger – at 5.5 per cent.

The reason for this is isn’t just the cooling off of the market, but the fact there are more homes for sale. According to Zoopla most estate agents these days have around 24 properties for sale. That compares to just 15 for the same period last year. As a result, nearly half of sellers (40 per cent) have been forced to lower the price of their property in order to secure a sale.

But, considering the average property rose by just over 20 per cent during the pandemic (resulting in an average gain of more than £48,000), the current cut shouldn’t be particularly hard-going for long-term home owners.

Richard Donnell, executive director of Zoopla says he expects a ‘soft landing’ for the property market this year, with property price falls of no more than five per cent.

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More rental properties are available in the capital, resulting in a lowering of monthly rents, according to one leading estate agent. 

There are in fact 60 per cent more rental properties advertised in London this month – nearly a quarter more than there was at the start of the pandemic. That’s still 40 per cent fewer than the same time last year (when many tenants moved home). At that time, owners of holiday lets also turned to long-term renting following the effective closure of the tourist market.

Rental income falling in the capital

The data, from Chestertons estate agents, also revealed that many rental properties were from ‘accidental landlords.’ These could be buy to let landlords put off by the low selling prices in the capital. They could also be couples looking to save money by co-habiting and renting out the other property. 

The result is the increase in supply is expected to flatten rental prices in the city.

House price drops of seven per cent by 2024

At the same time, homeowners can expect the value of their property to plummet over the next couple of years. Experts began to speculate last week following the latest Office for National Statistics figures, which showed a five per cent fall in house price growth between May and June. Despite this, the average UK house price was £286,000 in June – £20,000 higher than the same time last year.

The predictions are for a seven per cent fall in property prices over the next two years. This is fuelled by expectations that the Bank of England will increase interest rates to 3.75 per cent in April next year. It is currently sitting at 1.75 per cent. In London and the South East – where prices are highest compared to average incomes – the price drops are likely be even more severe. There the price of property could fall by as much as 12 per cent.

Gazumping on the rise 

Rightmove recording a drop of £23,000 in asking prices for 

property in London this month. The result has been an increase in gazumping tactics, according to several estate agents in the capital. 

One conveyancer, from the capital’s Osbornes Law firm said this form of ‘price chipping’ pointed to a weaker market – one that was already swinging from seller to buyer.

A shortage in the number of homes for sale is continuing to support the property market’s frenetic activity but higher mortgage interest rates and increasing inflation is expected to slow things down considerably. To the extent that next year is expected to show the slowest property market activity in over a decade.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Anthony Codling, of property website Twindig, tempered pessimistic attitudes by reminding the doom-mongers: “We tend to overestimate the likelihood of bad things happening. House prices have fallen in only 16 out of the last 91 years.

‘Increasing living costs and rising mortgage rates are likely to temper house price growth…once we have won the war on inflation we can expect prices to continue to rise.”

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The property market continues to flourish as would-be buyers rush to settle purchases before mortgage interest rates rise further. And chains continue to fall apart as gazumping flourishes and desperation rises. 

And it’s not just the buyers who are desperate – conveyances too are turning away work, unable to cope with the demand, according to one recent property analyst.

Country and Seaside slowdowns

Last year’s hot spots such as countryside villages and seaside retreats are still popular but, as one Cornwall estate agent put it: “the froth is coming off the market.” 

Truro estate agent Duncan Ley said: “It’s a lot less frantic than it was — where you’d get ten competing bids on a property last year, there’s now maybe two or three, and surveyors are being a lot more conservative about values.”

Neighbouring Cornwall estate agents report similar, saying poor or overpriced properties are being left – unlike last year when ‘pretty much anything went.

And it’s a similar story in Norfolk where demand is definitely falling, according to one estate agent in Burnham Market – to the extent it’s “pretty much a trickle.” 

Property reductions appearing in South East

Those looking for price reductions though, would be better heading north where property purchasers HBB Solutions say the biggest property price discounts are in the North West, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Wales. But further south there’s the appearance of shifting prices too. In the South East, for instance, one in four properties have reduced their asking price.

‘Secret sales’ on the up

Property analystists TwentyCi expect 18,600 more properties than last year to be sold privately ie without being publicly advertised. And it’s not just million pound properties either – a lot of estate agents already have lists of ready buyers fed up with being previously gazumped and willing to go above the asking price.

Rightmove’s latest figure show the average home asking price dropped by £4,795 for the first time this year. It brings the asking price of the typical property in England and Wales to £365,173. That was a drop of 1.3 per cent between July and August. 

Executives at the property portal attributed to fall to the summer holiday period, insisting the market would finish with seven per cent year-on-year growth by December this year. But other property onlookers believe it’s more than that. They insist the speedy rise in the cost of living is beginning to take effect.

New mortgages costing more than old

The Bank of England’s base interest rate rise this month was the largest increase in 27 years. For the first time in almost a decade the typical interest rate for new mortgages is higher than for existing mortgages. 

Lending rates have risen from one per cent to four per cent within the past year – substantially increasing monthly mortgage costs for many borrowers.

When rates have risen this dramatically in the past it has been during a period when the property market was extremely slow.

However, responsible lending this time round (compared to the 2007 recession) means many homeowners haven’t over-stretched their budgets, insist analysts. That means we’re not expecting too many repossessions.

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The cost of the average property was down in July by 0.1 per cent to £293,221.

That’s according to the latest Halifax House Price Index, where – not surprisingly – analysts attribute the monthly fall to the increasingly tightening cost of living crisis, as well as the jump in mortgage interest rates.

Monthly mortgage hikes strike

The Bank of England increased its interest rate by 0.5 per cent this week. It took the UK base rate to 1.75 per cent, meaning those on tracker and variable mortgage rates will see a hike in their monthly payments. The interest rate rise itself was the highest in 27 years. 

Banking organisation UK Finance say there are around 800,000 borrowers on a tracker mortgage and another 1.1 million on a Standard Variable Rate (SVR) deal. 

The best two-year mortgage package is already more than two per cent higher than in January this year, according to a survey by L&C Mortgages. That means a typical £150,000 repayment mortgage over 25 years is now £159 higher per month, while a £150,000 tracker mortgage with 20 years remaining would go up £38 a month. Meanwhile, there are around 1.3m fixed-rate mortgage deals due to end between now and the end of the year.

Many economists have been expecting property prices to fall since the start of the year. Yet despite the drop (from 12.5 per cent to 11.8 per cent), property is still around £30,000 higher in value than in July 2020 when the market could only be described as ‘frenzied.’ There is plenty of agreement across the industry that prices are expected to drop further in 2023.

Mortgage approvals falling

June saw mortgage approvals down for the fifth month in a row. The number of householders granted finance fell from 65,681 in May fell to 63,726 last month. Both figures are lower than the month before the pandemic struck (February 2020) when 67,000 mortgages were approved.

And yet, there are still plenty of house transactions taking place. According to property research company TwentyCi, there are, in July, around 10 per cent more homeowners getting ready to move compared to April this year. 

The company’s MD Colin Bradshaw said: “Our previous observation that the owner-occupied sector appears to be detached from the woes that are befalling the wider economy continues to hold true. Transactional levels remain greater than 2019 and we are yet to see a sharp re calibration of the residential property market in either price or volume.” 

Nearly 1.2 million property transactions are expected to have taken place in 2022 by the end of the year. Sales in Inner London have picked up again – at a 28 per cent increase since the start of the pandemic. 

Repossessions are ‘up’

Mortgage arrears fell for the first three months of the year – a drop of almost four thousand households. But repossessions are up this quarter (from 320 properties to 390) according to statistics from the latest UK Finance data. Of those properties 580 were homeowner mortgaged and 370 buy-to-let properties. 

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Property prices in the UK will remain strong and keep rising right through to 2024 and beyond, according to a leading accountancy firm report, released this week. 

Instead of plateauing or falling, the EY report predicts growth slowing to 1.8 per cent in 2023 and 1.2 per cent the following year. 

Property rises almost seven per cent higher than GDP

It goes on to insist that a housing crash is highly unlikely even despite the squeeze on household budgets (UK inflation rose to a 40-year high of 9.1 per cent in May), fall in government support and escalating interest rates. When compared to GDP growth over the past couple of years, the report says, the housing market has fared so much better, with a ‘real’ price rise of eight per cent compared to 1.2 per cent. 

That’s because in March 2022 the average property had risen by £48,000 (21 per cent) in just two years. The lower figure of eight per cent is when inflation is taken in to account.

Nationwide analysts show less optimism 

Interestingly, the Nationwide building society – whose monthly house price index is due any time now – isn’t issuing a forecasting house price report due to the ongoing upheaval in the economy. Upmarket property firm Knight Frank show no such reservations – the have increased their forecasted house price growth figure from five per cent to eight per cent for this year.

Analysts at the Nationwide don’t predict as buoyant a market as either EY or Frank Knight. Looking at mortgage figures they see a decrease in activity, with approvals down by 3,500 to 66,000 in April compared to the previous month. Borrowing was down £4.1bn from £6.4bn for the same period. In both cases this was lower than before the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

Why EY report remains positive for market

The Bank of England base rate has, of course, gone up post-pandemic – five times recently, pushing up mortgage costs for those on variable rates (or about to be). But, argues the EY report, existing home owners tend to be older and with higher salaries. They are also more likely to have been savers during the three periods of lockdown – a nest egg that can be converted into a bigger mortgage deposit.

Also, during previous recessions, house prices tended to fall when unemployment rose, forcing reluctant householders to sell their homes after a job loss. Today, unemployment is at its lowest in 50 years – 3.8 per cent in April and the lowest since the 1970s – sparking no such fears. 

Supply of housing too is in short supply. And that’s not just down to the number of New Builds – older homeowners are holding on to their property for longer, insists the report. As a nation we are living longer than previous generations. This also means fewer larger three and four-bedroom properties coming on to the market (not everyone wants to downsize). 

Add to that the fact that many of the smaller one and two-bedroom properties belong to buy to let landlords. They tend to be more interested in holding on to property for long-term capital appreciation.

Then there is the undisputable fact that although mortgage rates are rising, they are still historically low.

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