Unrealistic pricing continues to hamper sales, claims Rightmove’s Shipside

House seller volumes on Rightmove plummeted to 80,000 this month, the lowest number of new sellers since 2002, the portal reveals.

As part of its November House Price Index published this week, the portal reveals that the number of sellers on the site averaged at just 20,000 a week, compared with around 35,000 a week last year.

The portal attributes the decline to potential sellers’ decision to await an improvement in prices.

Miles Shipside (pictured), commercial director at Rightmove, says: “Some sellers could avoid months of disillusionment and despair if they started marketing at an asking price a lot closer to where the evidence indicates they are likely to end up.

“While average asking prices have fallen by 7.1% over the past year, in most parts of the country you should look to at least double that discount to achieve a sale.”

Industry pundit Henry Pryor agrees: “For those who either didn’t listen when they were told that their home wasn’t worth what they had hoped or who picked an estate agent who told them what they wanted to hear, now is the last chance to try and correct their mistake to try to get a sale before Christmas.

“There are still over 850,000 individual properties currently for sale in the UK, but with less than 7% selling each month, there is huge competition to get the few committed buyers that are able to perform. These buyers appreciate that they are in the driving seat.”

He adds: “Around one in 10 properties is now quoting a revised guide price. Better to admit that you got it wrong in the first place and try to communicate that you are serious about selling than continue to ask more than the market can stand. Vendors who persist in asking too much just look foolish.”

Rightmove reveals that the average asking price in the North East of England is £149,210, an increase of 1.3% from October (£147,247), although it is still 4.5% less than it was last year (£156,223).

The average asking price for the country as a whole was £222,979 in November, a 2.9% decrease from October’s asking price of £229,691.

Property portal Home.co.uk’s asking price index also reveals the North East as the best performing region this month, though its average price is £164,987, reflecting a six-month drop of just 2%, compared with the East Midlands, which, with a current average price of £177,558, showed the most drastic six-month drop of 5.4%.

West Midlands shows the biggest monthly decrease in asking prices in Home.co.uk’s index, down 5.6% from £193,393 in October to £182,660 in November, while Greater London saw the smallest drop (1.3%) in prices, from £395,560 to £390,340 in October and November respectively.

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