May was the month when the only hot thing about the property market was the temperature inside our homes. Predicting what will happen in June makes meteorology look easy - there are so many things worldwide that may happen and prove even the most reliable forecast wrong.
But one thing is certain. June is going to be a month of reality checks. Zoopla’s latest House Price Index is basically confirming what many of us on the front line have been saying.
The market is still moving, but on stricter terms. Prices aren’t crashing, but the era of optimistic prices, block viewings and instant bidding wars is behind us. UK house price inflation is running at 1.5 per cent, with the average UK home at £271,900.
With the cost of so much that we buy – fuel, food, utilities – rising far more quickly than just 1.5 per cent, this slight increase annually is, in effect, a fall in prices.
'The market is still moving, but on stricter terms'
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Or, if you wish to put a more positive spin on it, homes are becoming more affordable. Now look at the buyer behaviour, because this is where June will get interesting. Buyer demand is down 10 per cent, yet sales agreed are 1 per cent ahead of last year.
So something estate agents have known for a while has been proved by the data. There are fewer buyers, but they are more focused.
Those who are still buying aren’t playing games. And sellers need to wake up to this fact. Price sensibly, present the home properly, negotiate, and you can still get a deal done.
If you ‘try your luck’, ‘test the market’ or think your home is ‘better than the others in the street’ by sticking a 2022 price on the listing, you’ll likely come unstuck and fall into that category of the 40 per cent of properties that never sell.
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For those sellers who can’t just quietly come off the market, viewings will become sporadic, then nothing, followed by the inevitable reduction, often to less than might have been achieved during the first flurry of marketing at the correct price.
Zoopla also notes new homes coming to market are up 3.4 per cent year on year. More choice plus fewer buyers means negotiating power shifts towards the buyer.
June is going to be a month of reality checks for sellers
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Some may say “about time!” So what happens to prices in June? Honestly? Anything could happen.
The best we can hope for is ‘more of the same’. Slight price increases, sales to focused buyers, which means those who have to sell still can.
In short, it will reward the sellers who have priced it for the market we’re in, not the one we look back on nostalgically.
Property expert Jonathan Rolande is the founder of House Buy Fast. For more information visit www.rolande.property.co.uk
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