Home sellers cut asking prices on 3,000 properties a day - BBC

Home sellers across Britain are slashing asking prices on thousands of properties daily as stretched affordability, high inventory, and surging mortgage borrowing costs force a reckoning in the property sector. According to exclusive figures shared by property portal Rightmove, sellers cut asking prices on an average of more than 3,000 properties every single day, marking the highest volume of daily reductions recorded in 15 years.

The widespread discounting highlights a deepening split in the business landscape of UK real estate. Rightmove data revealed that the average price reduction was nearly 7%, stripping nearly £21,000 from the value of a typically priced home. Properties that underwent a price reduction typically required 119 days to secure a buyer, contrasting sharply with the 39 days needed for homes successfully sold at their initial price. The proportion of listed homes featuring a price cut stood at 34%, hovering just beneath the recent peak of 36% recorded previously.

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Rival property platform Zoopla corroborated the cooler buyer sentiment, noting that purchasers remained firmly in the driving seat amid heightened caution. Although the number of homes available for sale expanded compared to the prior year, agreed sales contracted over the same timeframe. Zoopla observed that a significant quarter of newly listed homes had previously been advertised within the prior year, with six in 10 returning at diminished asking prices.

Market observers note that emotional attachments frequently cloud valuation strategies. Tarah Lourens, chief operating officer at Rightmove, explained that sellers often factor in the time and financial investment they previously dedicated to their residences. Conversely, buyers evaluate only what fits cleanly inside their immediate purchasing power. Estate agents emphasized that setting accurate initial valuations remains crucial to capturing active interest. Craig Webster of Tiger Sales and Lettings in Blackpool noted that initial pricing represents the best opportunity to draw attention. Katie Griffin of Sawdye and Harris in Devon warned that corrective reductions can spiral, occasionally forcing vendors to accept bids even lower than their revised figures because buyers inevitably question why a property lingered online.

At the same time, buy-to-let investors have capitalized on the softer conditions. According to analysis by estate agent Hamptons, landlord purchasers deployed market cooling to drive hard bargains. In July, landlord buyers accounted for an expanded share of home purchases across Great Britain, paying on average a fraction of initial asking prices. More than half of investor offers in that period sat at least 10% below initial expectations, the highest proportion recorded since the early days of pandemic restrictions. Furthermore, vendors offered little resistance; nearly three in ten of those deep discount offers were accepted, with acceptance rates climbing even higher for leasehold flats in England.

Regional disparities further complicate the national picture. In Scotland, the mandatory Home Report system provides an independent pre-sale valuation that acts as a reliable pricing guide. Donnell noted that this framework enables properties in Scotland to move significantly faster than equivalents in southern England, where higher prices, stamp duty adjustments, and reticent landlords have slowed transactions. Conversely, prime locations such as the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea experienced sharp month-on-month drops in newly listed asking prices as inventory reached multi-year highs.

What happens next depends heavily on broader macroeconomic shifts and upcoming fiscal announcements. Rightmove and Zoopla both emphasize that sellers must remain realistic and avoid over-optimism as choosy buyers continue to leverage their expanding choices in an uncertain market environment.