More than eight in 10 estate agents are seeing properties sell below their asking price as increased stock gives buyers greater scope to negotiate, according to Propertymark.
Its latest Housing Insight report finds 86% of member agents reported properties achieving less than their asking price during August, while just 9% said homes were selling at asking price.
The average number of properties available for sale also increased to 51 per member branch, while agents brought an average 10.8 new homes onto the market during the month.
Buyer demand softened over the summer, with the average number of new prospective purchasers registering at each branch falling to 69 and viewings dropping to 1.7 per available property.
SALES EDGE UP
Despite more cautious buyer behaviour, the average number of sales agreed increased slightly to 9.5 per branch during August.
Agents also carried out an average of 30 market appraisals, suggesting a continuing pipeline of homeowners considering putting their properties onto the market.
Nathan Emerson (main picture, inset), Chief Executive Officer of Propertymark, says: “The key issue for the industry is not a lack of activity, but the gap between what buyers are prepared to pay and what sellers are willing to accept.
“With more properties requiring negotiation, realistic pricing and strong local market knowledge are becoming increasingly important for agents managing expectations on both sides.”
TRANSACTION DELAYS
Getting agreed sales through to exchange remains a significant challenge.
Propertymark finds 31.8% of member agents reported that most of their agreed sales took more than 17 weeks to move from offer acceptance to exchange.
Emerson says: “A sale being agreed is only one milestone, and prolonged periods before exchange can create uncertainty for buyers and sellers and leave chains vulnerable to disruption.
“There is a clear need for greater efficiency across the wider conveyancing process if we are to turn market activity into completed transactions more consistently.”
Read the full report HERE.
