Zoopla: Sales are slower but market is moving

The level of agency stock has almost doubled since last year but repricing is on the rise and sales are taking longer, Zoopla data suggests.

The portal’s latest House Price Index suggests that despite average prices falling by 1% since October,  new sales agreed over the past nine months indicate that the UK is on track for half a million completions in the first half of the year.

This is a third higher than the level of sales in the three years following the financial crisis.

Sales are being supported by greater availability of homes for sale which is 65% higher than this time last year, Zoopla said.

The average estate agent now has 25 homes available compared to a low of 14 this time last year. 

Whilst levels of buyer demand are 43% lower than a year ago, the number of sales being agreed are 16% lower than last year, according to Zoopla’s data.

Sellers are accepting asking price discounts averaging 4%, Zoopla said, while the average time to sell a home from listing to reaching the sold subject to contract stage has jumped by 71% or 15 days since last year.

Scottish properties currently have the shortest sales periods at 28 days compared with London, which has the longest time to sell at 44 days.

There has also been a shift in sales patterns, Zoopla said.

Year-on-year, there has been an increase of 5% in the share of sales in the bottom 40% of the market by price and conversely a drop of 4% in the share of sales in the top 40% of the market.

This indicates continued demand from first-time buyers or second-steppers, Zoopla said.

Zoopla’s report found annual house price growth has slowed from 8.9% in February 2022 to 4.1% in February 2023.

Richard Donnell,  executive director at Zoopla, said: “The housing market is arguably more balanced than it has been for more than three years.

“Levels of supply have recovered and buyers and sellers are not miles apart on where they see pricing and this means deals are being agreed at an increasing rate. 

“Prices are drifting lower compared to a year ago but fears of a major downturn in prices are overdone.

“Falling mortgage rates and a strong labour market are supporting activity levels from committed movers who need to be realistic on price if they are serious about moving home in 2023.

"We expect to see levels of activity continue to steadily improve over Easter and into the summer and second half of the year.”