The biggest drop in house prices in four years is tempting buyers back into the property market.
According to property website Zoopla, homes are selling for 4.2 per cent below the average asking price, or £12,125.
Discount rates reached their highest level since March 2019 in September, following recent increases in mortgage rates.
Although buyer numbers rebounded 12% in September, Zoopla said it remains dominant because it refuses to compromise on price.
It’s still a buyer’s market, with 80% more homes available for sale than in September 2021.
The biggest reduction in asking prices was in London and the south-east at 4.8%, compared to 2.8% in the rest of the UK, Zoopla said.
Discount rates have been rising since the summer, pushing down house prices, which have fallen by 0.5% over the past year.
Zoopla said this was the first annual decline since 2012, and prices are expected to fall by 2-3% this year.
“Moderate price declines alone are not enough to improve affordability to a level that fosters economic activity,” said Richard Donnell, executive director of research at Zoopla.
“Lower mortgage rates are the most likely way to improve home affordability and bring buyers back onto the market within the next 12 to 18 months.”
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what happened overnight
Real estate giant China Evergrande, which is in crisis, suspended stock trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and Asian stocks mostly fell.
The debt-laden Chinese real estate developer’s suspension of trading followed reports earlier this month that its chairman, Hui Kar Yang, was taken away and placed under police surveillance.
The Hang Seng Index fell 1.2% to 17,390.50, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose less than 0.1% to 3,108.51.
Trading in South Korea was closed due to a public holiday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.7% to 31,813.01. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed at 7,029.30.
Brent crude exceeded $87 a barrel, sending oil prices soaring to a one-year high, adding fuel to bond market selling and pushing the dollar further higher, while global stocks closed for nine straight sessions. It fell.
The U.S. dollar is at a 10-month high against a basket of other major currencies, and the 10-year Treasury yield remains at a 16-year high.
Stocks ended mixed on Wall Street. The S&P 500 rose 0.98 inch, or less than 0.1%, to 4,274.51 after making several U-turns throughout the day, remaining near its lowest since June.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.61 points, or 0.2%, to 33,550.27, after bouncing between gains of 112 points and losses of 312 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 29.24 points, or 0.2%, to 13,092.85.