Latest news on the property marklet in Yorkshire

Earlier in the spring season the portal’s analysts were seeing some caution on asking prices from new sellers despite positive signs for activity levels, as home-movers continued to navigate the fallout from the mini-Budget.

Now, with buyer demand three per cent higher than in 2019 and sales agreed three per cent behind 2019’s levels, this positive activity has belatedly filtered through to new seller asking prices. However, the current multi-speed, hyper-local market is still price-sensitive and buyer affordability is still stretched.

Whilst increased seller pricing confidence in the first-time-buyer and second-stepper homes sectors has more justification, there are some signs of over-optimism at the top end of the property ladder.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Science, says: “This month’s strong jump in new seller asking prices looks like a belated reaction and a sign of increasing confidence from sellers, as we’d usually see such a big monthly increase earlier in the spring season.

“One reason for this increased confidence may be that the gloomy start-of-the-year predictions for the market are looking increasingly unlikely. What is much more likely is that the market will continue to transition to a more normal activity level this year following the exceptional activity of the pandemic years. “Steadying mortgage rates and a generally more positive outlook for the economy are also contributing to more seller confidence, though there are likely to be more twists and turns to come.

“The market is still very price-sensitive and it is important that new sellers do not damage their prospects of a sale by overpricing initially and reducing later, with agents reporting that it’s the realistically-priced new instructions that are selling best.”

The average discount from the final asking price to the agreed sale price has steadied at an average of 3.1 per cent, in line with pre-pandemic market levels.

The number of buyers enquiring to agents about homes for sale is now three per cent higher than at this time in the last more normal market of 2019.

This is being led by the first-time-buyer and second-stepper sectors, with buyer demand now six per cent and three per cent above pre-pandemic levels respectively.

However, there are signs of some over-optimism in the top-of-the-ladder sector, which has the fastest-rising prices this month despite buyer demand in this sector being 1% lower than at this time before the pandemic. While properties in this largest-homes sector are still selling faster than in 2019, it is now taking an average of 67 days to agree a sale, nearly double the 35-day average at this time last year.

This is the biggest increase in the time taken to find a buyer, with second-stepper properties now taking 52 days on average compared to 28 days last year, and first-time-buyer properties now taking 53 days, up from 35 days a year ago.

A steadying in fixed-rate mortgages is also contributing to confidence. The average rate for a five-year fixed, 15 per cent deposit mortgage is now 4.56 per cent.