Lowest mortgage rates for 15 months drives double digit boost to buyer demand and home sales reports Zoopla

  • New sales agreed are 25% higher than a year ago as buyers return to the market

  • Sales up the most in the East Midlands (32%) and North East (30%)

  • Rebound in activity supports slow recovery in house price growth –  UK house prices increase by 0.7% up from -0.3% a  year ago

  • More and more stock is coming to market, up 12%, from homeowners looking to move and other groups concerned over recent and future possible tax changes

  • A third (32%) of homes for sale on Zoopla are ‘chain free’ – typically a 2 bed house

  • Coastal and rural areas including Truro (47%) and Torquay (44%) have 40% more homes for sale than average as second home owners look to offload properties

 

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL Thursday 3rd October, 2024, London: The latest House Price Index from Zoopla, the property website, reveals that the lowest mortgage rates for 15 months is supporting a rebound in sales market activity across the UK.

 

Sales agreed and buyer demand are both up by more than a quarter over the last 4 weeks compared to the same period a year ago as households that have held off making moving decisions over the last two years return to the market.  The number of sales agreed is 25% higher than a year ago Sales are up by over 10% across all areas and are up to 30% higher across the East Midlands and North-East.

 

The number of homes for sale continues to grow as greater confidence amongst sellers sees more homes listed for sale – this includes homeowners looking to move as mortgage rates fall but also investors and second home owners selling in response to recent and possible tax changes.

 

Third of homes for sale are ‘chain free’

 

A third (32%) of homes for sale on the site are currently ‘chain free’ as investors and  second home owners look to sell homes amidst recent tax changes and speculation around further tax changes in the upcoming October Budget. The most common ‘chain free’ homes are 2 bed houses with 41% currently listed as chain free on Zoopla. Previously rented homes account for 13% of homes for sale on Zoopla.

 

Many English councils are expected to double council tax for second homes in 2025. Coastal and rural postal areas popular with second home owners, such as Truro (47%), Torquay (44%), Exeter (41%), Lincoln (41%) and Bournemouth (40%), have all seen available supply increase by over 40%, as a result of these incoming tax changes. However, annual house price growth is still negative in these areas with rising supply keeping house prices in check.

 

Affordability remains a constraint  on house price growth

 

Affordability continues to be a constraint on house price growth, especially in southern England. London prices have registered the biggest turnaround over the last year moving from annual price falls of -1.7% a year ago to modest price gains of +0.5% today.

 

Whilst house prices are lower than a year ago in the South West, South East and Eastern regions of England, in the rest of Great Britain, house price growth is higher than a year ago with prices up to 2.5% higher. Home values in Northern Ireland are 5.5% higher, having under-performed the rest of the market in recent years.

 

More supply will keep price inflation in check

 

Greater choice for home buyers is expected to keep house price growth in check in the months ahead.  Most new listings are home-owners looking to sell and buy another home. However, not all homes are ‘brand’ new to the market. A fifth of homes currently for sale were previously on the market at some stage in the last two years.

 

While market conditions are improving, setting the right price is important to attract buyers. The same applies to the fifth of homes for sale that have been on the market for more than 6 months, still unsold. This explains why a similar proportion have had their asking price cut by up to 5% to attract buyers who remain price sensitive in the face of greater choice.

 

Over a third of sales (37%) are being agreed at more than 5% below the initial asking price, highlighting further how buyers continue to be competitive with offers. This proportion has improved from a year ago but remains at a level that suggests low single digit house price growth ahead.

 

Commenting on the latest report Richard Donnell, Executive Director at Zoopla comments: “Lower mortgage rates are delivering a much needed confidence boost to homeowners, many of whom have sat on the sidelines over the last two years. Market activity is up across the board and expectations of lower borrowing costs will continue to bring buyers and sellers into the market.

 

“Speculation over possible tax changes in the Budget and the impact of previous tax changes are continuing to add to the growth in the number of homes for sale. We remain in a buyers market and greater choice of homes for sale will keep house price inflation in check into 2025.“

EAN Content

Content shared by this account is either news shared free by third parties or sponsored (paid for) content from third parties. Please be advised that links to third party websites are not endorsed by Estate Agent Networking - Please do your own research before committing to any third party business promoted on our website. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

UK monthly property transactions for May 2025

Headline statistics from the latest transactions data include: the provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in May 2025 is 81,470, 12% lower than May 2024 and 25% higher than April 2025 the provisional non-seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in May 2025 is 80,530, 13% lower than May 2024 and…
Read More
Breaking News

Construction Skills Mission Board (CSMB) shows the Government has a plan

The Construction Skills Mission Board (CSMB) held its first board meeting today (26 June 2025), where it set out a roadmap for recruiting 100,000 more construction workers a year by the end of Parliament. Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “The Construction Skills Mission Board (CSMB) is a recognition…
Read More
Paint Stripper Tools
Estate Agent Talk

5 Strategies to Optimise Your Warehouse for Real Estate

The term fixer-upper can mean many things, from ‘slap some paint on the walls and it looks brand new’ to ‘will this building collapse if we open the front door?’ Indeed, in the dicey world of commercial property acquisition, each warehouse you buy will probably fall into both camps. Thinking about the viability of warehouses…
Read More
Breaking News

HMOs sell for up to 50% above market average

New research from Excellion Capital, the boutique debt advisory and investment firm, reveals that HMOs sell for as much as 50% above the average house price, further increasing their investment potential after it was revealed that HMOs also create rental yields of up to 12.5%. After previous research from Excellion Capital recently showed that the…
Read More
Breaking News

UK buyers struggle while 50,000 homes sit empty

As the UK housing crisis deepens, new analysis by Open Property Group exposes a worrying surge in so-called “zombie homes”- properties that sit unoccupied and deteriorating while millions struggle to access affordable housing. Key insights: 50,000+ long-term vacant homes in England alone 23,000+ of these have been empty for more than two years Estimated £13.6…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 26/06/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   The UK is Europe’s second most distressed market despite headline GDP growth Retail and Consumers Goods has emerged as the most distressed sector in Europe, with distress levels now the highest since the global financial crisis, according to the latest Weil European Distress Index (WEDI). The…
Read More