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Market Report November 2023

Welcome to the latest market report from LL Estates. As we've seen for much of the year, it's a mixed bag when it comes to what's really going on in the property market, both on a national and more local scale.

One thing is for sure and that is if you only rely on the news headlines you'll have quite a distorted picture of things. There's actually a lot of good news around for both sellers and buyers, which is why it's essential to listen to an experienced North Wales local estate agent to find out what it all means for you.

Ups and downs

The first thing to note is that prices are certainly not crashing but sellers need to take careful heed of what their estate agent tells them.

Rightmove's monthly data is widely held to be the best up to date snapshot of market activity and their latest research shows asking prices increased by 0.5% across the UK in October. This is the smallest average asking price increase at this time of year since 2008 and over the last 20 years the average rise at this time of year has been 1.4%.

However, across Wales as a whole the asking prices of newly listed properties saw a drop of 0.6%. So even though things are essentially stable when it comes to valuations, a reputable estate agent's market appraisal will take more than this into account.

For instance, the number of buyers enquiring about each available home newly listed for sale is 8% higher than in the more normal pre-pandemic market of 2019, but the number of sales agreed is actually 17% below this time last year.

This shows that even though there are definitely high levels of demand, potential buyers are being much more careful about putting an offer in at the moment.

Immediate buyer interest

Rightmove's data highlights something called 'immediate buyer interest' which essentially revolves around pricing your home correctly right from the start.

Some estate agents still suggest testing a higher initial price and reducing later if need be. However this is risky in the current climate and can damage chances of a sale severely.

Having a competitive price from the first day of marketing is key as the Rightmove data shows if a property receives its first buyer enquiry on that day rather than after two weeks it's 60% more likely to find a buyer.

These properties also find a buyer in less than half the time of those that need a reduction and their sale is also 50% less likely to fall through.

Good news for mortgages

Something that is good news for both sellers and buyers is positivity in the mortgage market.

Average fixed mortgage rates have fallen for 11 consecutive weeks, with an average two-year fixed rate now under 6% for the first time since June. The average five-year fixed rate has fallen from 6.08% 11 weeks ago to current stand at 5.43% meaning that both rates are now lower than at this time last year.

This improving mortgage market means more confidence for home-movers when it comes to long term budgeting and its relation to what they are able to afford. This all-important aspect of  buyer affordability has improved compared to this time last year in another way too, as the average house price to earnings ratio has also decreased by close to 10% over the past twelve months.

Winter thoughts

As autumn inevitably turns into winter, it's easy to put moving plans onto the back burner when Christmas is just around the corner.

In fact, anyone who really wants to buy a home should keep their focus and be looking even harder right now. With such high buyer demand there's no point in holding back and risk missing out, and that applies to the current trend for both competitive asking prices and good mortgage affordability being in play too.

Likewise, if you want to sell and aren't already on the market, you should be getting everything in place to make the most of the post-Christmas increase in buyers we always see -  and at the time of writing that's only eight weeks away!

We cover a wide area across Denbighshire and Conwy through to Flintshire and everywhere in-between, so if you want a market appraisal that you can trust and a marketing package to sell your home that is second to none, get in touch and find out why we've built such a great reputation in the North Wales property market:

Call 01745 591811 or email rhuddlan@llestates.co.uk.