The gap between what sellers want for their homes and what buyers are paying has increased by a further 1.1% in the past year to 17.1%, Yopa reveals.
Yopa’s analysis found that the average asking price of a home in Britain in July this year is £365,999 while the average sold price stands at £303,396.
Homes are selling on average for 17.1% below the asking price, which is equivalent to £62,602.
On a regional level, the largest deficit between the asking price and the sold price is found in Wales. The asking price stands at £281,105, but homes are selling 24.2% below that at £213,147.
Homes in the North East are selling at an average of 22.8% below asking, followed by the West Midlands at 21.8%, Yorkshire & Humber at 21.4%, and the North West at 20.8%.
There are no regions in which sold prices are matching asking prices, with the smallest gap found in London where the difference stands at 7.4%.
The North East has seen the largest annual increase in the gap between the asking price and the sold price. July 2024’s difference of 22.8% is 6.8% wider than the 2023 gap of 15.9%.
In Yorkshire & Humber, asking prices and actual sold prices have grown 3.3% further apart over the past year, while in the West Midlands, the gap has increased by 2.1%.
The South West is the only region where sold prices have grown closer to asking prices over the past year. The current difference of 19.1% is 0.5% narrower than July 2023’s figure of 19.6%.
Yopa’s national franchise director Steve Anderson says: “While market stability has improved since the decision to freeze the base rate in September of last year, it’s clear that sellers remain largely over-confident when it comes to their asking price expectations versus the price they can sell their property for.”
“In hot market conditions, it’s not unusual for sold prices to exceed initial asking prices, but in the current market there simply isn’t the required level of buyer demand to drive such price hikes.”
“This is largely down to the fact that mortgage rates remain substantially higher than we’ve seen in previous years and so buyers simply aren’t able to over-stretch when borrowing to put in a higher offer for their desired home.”
“The good news is, of course, that interest rates are forecast to fall before the year is out and, as they do, this should help drive buyer market activity to a greater extent and close the gap between asking prices and sold prices.”
