72% of sales agreed below asking price as competition drops: Propertymark

72% of housing sales agreed were secured below the asking price in November, according to the latest data from Propertymark.

This is because competition has dropped by over a third, from a high of 11 new buyers to every new property instructed, now to just 7 buyers to every new property for sale in a member branch.

Buyers who were caught in bidding wars are now back in the driving seat as total available properties on the market continues to rise to an average of 33 properties per estate agent branch. That is a 74% increase in homes to choose from since the start of the year and compares to a pre-pandemic average for November of 38 (2015–2019).

The number of new buyers registering per member branch dropped again to 52 in November — down from a high of 86 in August - and the average number of viewings per property continued to fall in November and now stands at 2.6.

The average number of sales agreed per member branch dropped to six in November, down from 10 in September.

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, commented: "The sales market is firmly back in the hands of buyers who have been on the back foot for 18 months. More property is available but the competition between those looking has cooled substantially. For those motivated to sell, good, solid buyers are still prominent."