14/12/2004

House sellers are finding it harder to attract buyers and are responding both with price cuts and by accepting lower offers.

Correspondingly, the amount of time property has been on the market has risen steadily. It is now taking more than twice as long to sell a home as it did in May, and is now an average of around 18 weeks. (In August it took 1.4x as long as May, in September 1.6x as long and October 1.7x as long).

Property website propertyfinder.com has tracked conditions facing house sellers over the last six months. In May house sellers were reporting an average 1.2 viewings per week since they had put their homes on the market. Interest from buyers has diminished steadily since then. In November, house sellers were reporting an average of only 1 viewing every two weeks. 75% reported a reduction in buyer interest.

House sellers recognise the market is getting tougher, say the firm as 88% of sellers say it is getting harder to sell their home and 74% say that their estate agents are giving them more negative feedback on the market.

Recognising the tougher market conditions, sellers are taking action to attract more buyers. 25% have cut the asking price between 1% and 10%. In addition to this, over one fifth (22%) have cut the asking price more than 10%.

On average, sellers are prepared to accept offers 6.4% below their asking prices. Buyers are on average making offers 5.1% below the asking price, implying that they could be more aggressive when putting in their bid on the home they want to buy. In May, house buyers were only offering on average 1% below the asking price.

Nicholas Leeming, Sales Director of propertyfinder.com said: "The balance of power has shifted firmly in favour of buyers. Sellers are responding by cutting asking prices and accepting lower offers."

"Realistically priced property is still selling quickly and close to the asking price. Our other recent data shows that house buyers and sellers expect house prices to fall over the coming year, but only modestly. They do not expect the market to crash."