Is the glass full or half empty?

We’ve been taking a closer look at August’s market insights from Rightmove

The average price of property coming to the market has seen its first fall this year, down 1.3% in the month to £365,173 (-£4,795):

But….prices usually drop in August, and this 1.3% drop is on a par with the average August drop over the past ten years

Summer holidays are taking priority and some new sellers are pricing more competitively to secure a buyer quickly, to beat the lengthy average time its now taking to get to completion and move home before Christmas

Demand continues to soften and supply constraints are improving, but there is still a massive imbalance:

Buyer enquiries are down 4% on the white hot market of 2021, but remain 20% higher than 2019

New listings are up by 12% on the same period last year, but are still 6% down on 2019, while available stock is down 23% on 2019

Latest interest rate rise of 0.5% will put pressure on buyer affordability:

Average monthly mortgage payments for new first-time buyers, putting down a 10% deposit, exceed £1,000 for the first time.

August marks 20 years of Rightmove’s House Price Index, with national average asking prices more than doubling in those 20 years (+134%), from £155,994 to £365,173, outstripping both salaries and general inflation