According to the property portal Rightmove, the average asking price of properties popular among FTBs has reached a record price of £224,963 during the previous month
Those hoping to get on to the UK housing ladder are facing record high asking prices, as calm returns to the sector after last autumn’s mini-budget scared the markets.
According to the property portal Rightmove, the average asking price of properties popular among FTBs – (with one or two bedrooms) – has reached a record price of £224,963 during the previous month. That is 2 per cent higher compared to a year ago, even though higher mortgage rates have made homes less affordable.
The FTB section of the market seems to be exceeding the rest, with sales now 4 per cent more than in March 2019, while the “second-stepper sector” continues to be 4 per cent lower, and top-of-the-ladder property sales down 3 per cent than four years back.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s property expert, said the heightened activity in the FTB sector was good for the whole market, as they are often the beginning of chains between buyers and sellers.
Though, it continues to be a testing environment to get on to the ladder, with fresh record average asking prices and higher borrowing costs to budget for than a year earlier, he stated.
On the whole, the number of sales agreed is 18 per cent less than that in 2023, as activity came back to “a more normal level”.
Across the market, asking prices are just 0.2 per cent higher this month, to an average of £366,247, which is a “notably” smaller increase than the average rise of 1.2 per cent for this time of year, the property portal stated.
Tom Bill, the head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, stated that the sharp decline in property sales that came after the shock of the mini-budget has “bottomed out”.
He further said: The mortgage market has steadied and buyers growingly accept they are in a new lending environment following 14 years of ultra-low rates.
Several buyers are able to negotiate down sellers instead of stumping up asking prices.
