Average house prices fall to £288k in Birmingham - here’s what you can buy for that

Some urgent sellers who are coming to market are pricing more competitively to find a buyer faster and beat the average time.

The average price of property coming to market dropped for the first time this year. It fell by 1.3% this month (-£4,795) to £365,173, a report said.

The property aggregator Rightmove said prices do fall in August usually, and the decrease was on par with the average of 1.3% over the last ten years. However, in Birmingham property prices rose by 0.4% compared to last month and 11.4% compared to August 2021. The current average price is £288,722 and the time taken to complete the sale is 31 days on averaged.

Some urgent sellers who are just enterring the market are pricing more competitively to make a sale quicker and beat the average time, which is 136 days nationally, to make the sale and move before Christmas.

Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the UK average house prices increased by 7.8% over the year to June 2022, down from 12.8% in May 2022. The average UK house price was £286,000 in June 2022, which is £20,000 higher than this time last year.

However, Rightmove, which has been publishing the House Price Index for 20 years, reported asking prices have more than doubled (+134%) from £155,994 to £365,173 - the current national average asking price.

Despite the fall in price this month, demand has gone down while supply is improving. Buyer enquiries to agents have reduced by 4% on the hot market of 2021, but still is 20% higher than 2019.

New listings went up by 12% on the same period last year, but are still 6% down on 2019, while available stock is down 39% on 2019.

There is the added pressure of interest rate rise of 0.5% which are contributing to increased average monthly mortgage payments for new first-time buyers putting down a 10% deposit. They exceed £1,000 for the first time, the report said.

Tim Bannister Rightmove’s Director of Property Science said: “A drop in asking prices is to be expected this month, as the market returns towards normal seasonal patterns after a frenzied two years, and many would-be home movers become distracted by the summer holidays. Indeed, for those that can, this may be their first summer holiday abroad since before the pandemic.

Sellers who want or need to move quickly at this time of year tend to price competitively in order to find a suitable buyer fast, with some hoping to complete their move in time to enjoy Christmas in a new home. To achieve that this year, they’d need to beat the current average time between accepting an offer and completing the sale of four and a half months.

“Nevertheless, we’re still expecting price changes for the rest of the year to continue to follow the usual seasonal pattern, which means we’ll end year at around 7% annual growth, even with the wider economic uncertainty.”

Here are three homes in Birmingham that cost almost as much as the average price: £288,722.

Some urgent sellers who are just enterring the market are pricing more competitively to make a sale quicker and beat the average time, which is 136 days nationally, to make the sale and move before Christmas.

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