Stronger buyer demand and sales as market marches into Spring
• The average price of newly marketed properties rises by 1.5% (+£5,279) this month to £368,118, higher than the historic average March increase of 1.0% and the biggest for 10 months as the market continues its recovery after a muted 2023.
• The positive start to the year continues, paving the way for a greater number of home purchases than last year:
• With average asking prices still £4,776 below the May 2023 peak, more are seeing a window of opportunity to buy.
• The number of sales being agreed is now 13% higher than at this time last year.
• Buyer demand is now 8% above last year, led by the less mortgage-rate-sensitive larger homes sector and London.However, despite a better-than-expected start to the year, the market remains sensitive to pricing and external events:
• Rightmove’s real time data shows the growth in buyer demand was tempered somewhat by a lacklustre Spring Budget, with no direct help for first-time buyers or mortgage market innovations.
• The average time to find a buyer is 71 days, the longest at this time of year since 2019. Attractively priced properties are quickly being cherry-picked, but over-optimistically priced sellers are taking longer to find a buyer.
• The average 5-year mortgage rate is now 4.84% compared to 4.64% five weeks ago, as rates edge up to higher levels.
Affordability trends
The first-time buyer monthly mortgage payment is based on Bank of England data of the averages for 90% LTV two year fixed mortgages from lenders, and the average asking price of a typical first-time buyer home (two bedrooms or fewer) using our partners Rightmove House Price Index. The equivalent monthly rent is calculated using the same property types (two bedrooms or fewer). The affordability to buy a first home is based on the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) dataset from ONS multiplied by 4.5 to get the typical maximum that a person can borrow from a lender. The average asking price of a typical first-time buyer home is taken from the Rightmove House Price Index.
Price & activity trends
Regional trends