People selling their homes have achieved, on average, 96.7% of their final asking price, the latest figures from Rightmove have revealed.
According to the property website’s House Price Index new-to-the-market prices have risen by 0.4% in the last month, pushing the national average to a new record of £305,732.
And it also identified that, with sellers achieving more than 96% of their asking price across the UK, there was a gap of just over £10,000 between the final asking price and the amount for which a home actually sold.
Miles Shipside, director and housing market analyst at Rightmove, explained this was an average figure and could only be tracked on properties which had actually sold.
He added: “Property that is over-priced and has not yet sold may need to be priced more attractively in order to attract a buyer in the first place.
“As a buyer, doing your research before you decide what to offer is essential, as the market is often hyper-local with prices depending on local supply and demand and how sensible sellers and their agents are with their asking prices.
“As a seller, if your property is initially over-priced, you may find it much harder to achieve a sale at any price as increasingly price-sensitive buyers might just ignore it.”
The new record on the national average house price highlighted by Rightmove surpassed the previous national high of £304,943 set in July 2017 by 0.3%.
Record monthly visits to the website in March also suggested there was strong interest in the property market. However Rightmove warned that a ‘subdued’ annual rate of increase meant many buyers were price sensitive.
Danny Belton, head of lender relationships at Legal & General Mortgage Club, said while the figures gave the impression house prices were returning to higher levels it was important to remember they reflected average asking price rather than completed transactions.
He added: “Actual house price inflation continues to rise at more sustainable levels that sit in line with wage inflation. That, and schemes such as shared ownership and Help to Buy are helping buyers looking to make their first step onto the housing ladder, so it’s no surprise the number of first-time buyers reached a 10-year high earlier this year.”
