Sellers are still failing to price realistically, with the volume of asking price reductions on homes increasing by 10.8% on an annual basis, according to new figures from the House Buyer Bureau.
The company analysed the latest market data from TwentyCI, looking at the volume of new instructions, sales agreed, exchanged sales, fall-throughs, price reductions and withdrawn properties, to see how current market conditions compare to a year ago.
It found that the number of sales falling through is also up, with an increase of 4.5% year on year, suggesting that even when a buyer is secured, a sale is far from guaranteed.
However, the research also showed that the number of new instructions has increased, up by 2.1% on an annual basis, as sellers continue to enter the market. The number of sales agreed has risen by a similar amount, up by 2.3%.
The number of transactions progressing all the way to exchange showed the strongest growth, up by 12.6% for the period.
However, the number of homes withdrawn from the market has also climbed, up by 7.6% annually.
An exhausting process
Chris Hodgkinson, managing director of House Buyer Bureau, said: “For all the talk that the property market is improving, these figures show that the experience for many sellers remains incredibly difficult.
“More homes are selling and more transactions are reaching exchange, but this increase has been largely driven by the fact that sellers are being forced to lower their asking price in order to secure a buyer.
“At the same time, we’re still seeing a growing number of sales collapse and many sellers are simply giving up and withdrawing from the market altogether because they have become exhausted by the process.
“It remains a testing landscape for the market despite improvements to mortgage rates over the last year and recent geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the conflict in Iran has cast further doubt over the wider economic outlook. As a result, many buyers are still hesitant, lenders remain cautious, and transactions are taking longer to complete.”
