A real estate firm has warned London homeowners to prepare to accept an average of £29,000 lower than what they want to achieve for their property sale – whilst the rest of the country should expect to drop by £14,000.
Zoopla’s new figures showed that 41% of houses currently listed on its website have been cut to attract buyers.
While house price inflation has decreased from a rocketed 8.6% last year, it still stands fairly high at 5.3%.
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla said: “We believe the market remains on track for a soft landing in 2023 with modest price falls of up to 5 per cent and one million housing sales.”
Mini-budget chaos
Zoopla said demand from homebuyers rebounded in the first two months of 2023 after last Autumn’s disastrous mini-budget caused chaos in the financial markets, but remained at half the level recorded a year ago as buyers appeared cautious.
However, new data from Halifax revealed that significant gains had made during the pandemic, with house prices rising by more than 20% in three years compared to just 7.3% the three years prior.
London saw the biggest inflation in prices with semi-detached homes soaring by £90,000.
It comes as people spent lockdown pondering how life could be, with more outdoor space or areas in the home, resulting in a surge in house prices.
First time buying was much more affordable at this time.
Mortgage providers typically decide whether or not to lend a prospective buyer cash based on whether home prices are above or below a multiple of their income.
People have been priced out of the market due to home prices racing ahead of stagnating wages and mortgage rates higher than ever before.
High mortgage rates are having the greatest impact in areas where buyers are already stretched due to high average property prices — notably London and southern England which are seeing minimal price growth.
The average price of a house in the UK today, according to Zoopla, is £260,000.
