"First-time buyers benefited from falling prices in August, as the housing market reached the low of the summer slowdown."
Its research shows that the number of first-time buyers entering the market has fallen by 2.2% on the month, and by 22.3% on the year.
Across the market, house prices across England and Wales in August dropped by 4.1% on the month, but are up 0.8% on the year.
New buyer demand for homes rose by 1.8% on the month but is still down 7.7% annually. Additionally the number of properties coming onto the market has fallen by 7.6% on the month, and is down by 14% annually. This month there are 9 buyers chasing every property across England and Wales.
Paul Smith, CEO of Haart, commented: “First-time buyers benefited from falling prices in August, as the housing market reached the low of the summer slowdown. First-time buyer prices fell by 10% on the month, dropping to their lowest level since August 2016.
“Transactions across the board still remain 14% down on where they were a year ago – however I sincerely believe we have reached the bottom of the market. Prices are still rising, but at a slower pace than inflation, and now that unemployment has reached a record low it’s only a matter of time before interest rates climb back up again. The savvy buyer will act now before prices begin to rise at a faster pace.
“With 9 buyers chasing every instruction across the UK, 15 across London, and as we are seeing almost 100% of asking prices achieved across many of our London branches, it is impossible to deny that the demand to buy is there. Housing has been a bottom of the pile priority for Government ministers for too many months whilst the ins and outs of Brexit are debated. Now, in the midst of a housing crisis, is hardly the time to take a step back on housing policy. We need to see real reform to make real change on the ground now.”
