Over-optimistic house sellers ask 1.7% more... but their properties are stuck on the market

Published 18th Apr 2011

House sellers raised their asking prices by 1.7 per cent last month, but buyers are still thin on the ground, leading to a glut of unsold properties.

It was the fourth consecutive month in which new sellers have increased asking prices, according to property website Rightmove. The increase means the average property on the market in England and Wales has a price tag of £235,822 - six per cent or £13,400 higher than at the end of last year.

But the leap in prices in March is due to misplaced optimism, as homes are not selling.

The mismatch between supply and demand led to the number of unsold properties on estate agents' books rising at its fastest level since May 2007, to an average of 74 homes per branch.

Rightmove warned that with interest rate likely to rise, vendors wanting to take advantage of the traditional spring window needed to adopt 'serious sales tactics'.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: 'With buyers still struggling to raise the necessary finance, the net result has been the biggest jump in unsold stock on agents' books that we have recorded in nearly four years.

'With Government cuts starting to bite and interest rate rises still expected in the second half of the year, those who are serious about selling should look to price more keenly in the spring selling season.'


An average of 28,390 properties were put on the market each week during the four weeks to April 9, nine per cent more than during the same period of 2010 and 28 per cent up on 2009.

Meanwhile, regional differences in the market continue to widen, with estate agents in the south reporting more buoyant market conditions and sales activity than those in the north.

Asking prices in London and the South-east are now 2.2 per cent higher than they were a year ago, while in the South-west they are up by 1.9 per cent.

But in the East Midlands they are 4.2 per cent lower and in the West Midlands they have fallen by 4.1 per cent.

On a monthly basis, the South-west saw the biggest increase in asking prices of 3.3 per cent, followed by the North-west at 3.1 per cent, with asking prices in London rising by 1.6 per cent to reach a new record of £431,013.

Source: ' ThisIsMoney '

View All Latest Articles