Housing market shows signs of stability in December

It comes as new seller average asking prices at the end of the year was just 1.1% below a year ago, while the sales agreed was just 13% lower than during same period in 2022. Meanwhile, prices in seven out of 11 regions are higher than a year ago – with the north west leading the way, up by 1.5% compared to last year, while the south east is the worst performer at 3.7% below 2022.  

In the month of December, average new seller asking prices fell by 1.9% to £355,177. And, while sellers who come to the market in the month often have a pressing reason to sell and find a buyer quickly, this is a slightly bigger December drop in newly marketed property prices than usual – with the December average over the last 20 years being a decrease of 1.5%.  

According to Rightmove, this has been partly driven by more new sellers looking to price below the competition.  

As for mortgage rates, these have now fallen for 19 consecutive weeks – with the average five-year fixed mortgage rate now 5.11% compared to 6.11% in July. Alongside this, buyer demand in the mid-market, second stepper sector is up the most against last year’s post-mini-budget period – going up by nine percent, while overall buyer demand is up by six percent.  

Rightmove’s director of property science Tim Bannister said: “Further price falls beyond the usual seasonal trends that we’d expect at this time of year signal that some new sellers are continuing to act on the advice of agents to price competitively.  

“We entered this year under a cloud of uncertainty, as the fallout from the Autumn mini-Budget filtered through to lower activity levels. High mortgage rates which have added to already-stretched buyer affordability have been a challenge throughout 2023 and this is likely to carry into next year.

“However, for now, there appears to be more calm and certainty heading into 2024, and the annual fall of 1.1% in asking prices highlights the market’s much-better-than-predicted resilience this year.”