• The long term trend in house sale fall through rates has been a steady fall since peaking in July 2008.
• Fall through rates have improved due to an increase in the proportion of cash buyers and offers only being accepted if they are accompanied by mortgage approval in principle.
The average house sale fall through rate for Q2 2013 was 19.77%, almost exactly 10% lower than in the corresponding quarter in 2012.
Donna Houguez, Market Analyst at Quick Move Now, comments:
“The reduction in the proportion of fall throughs that we’ve seen in the last quarter is a continuation of the long term trend since July 2008.
Whereas previously, buyers tended to make offers and then secure a mortgage, often unrealistically, now we find that people making offers are much more committed – they are either cash buyers or they have a mortgage agreement in principle in place.
Increasing market confidence following tentative signs of an economic recovery, rising transaction levels and prices, and the introduction of the Government and Bank of England backed Funding for Lending and Help to Buy schemes could be expected to further improve the fall through rate. However, given that it tends to be a barometer of misplaced confidence, we are expecting that if offer numbers rise in the next quarter, so too will the rate of fall throughs.”
Quick Move Now provides one-of-its-kind data to property analysts to help with assessment of the housing market.
Data Calculation:
Quick Move Now sells hundreds of properties each year and the fall through statistics are calculated month-on-month using a six-month average. In reality, the fall through rate for homeowners would be approximately 10 – 15% higher as Quick Move Now has a professional resale team proactively managing the completion process.
