Demand dealt expensive blow

Increases in mortgage costs caused first-time-buyer demand to fall 26 per cent in October.

The figures, from Rightmove, show that overall buyer demand fell 20 per cent last month, compared with a year ago, as increased borrowing costs and economic uncertainty caused househunters to put their property searches on hold.

This comes after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed last week that housing market demand in the UK fell at the fastest pace since 2020, and encountered one of the largest decreases in more than 20 years, in October.

The survey also showed that new buyer inquiries fell for the sixth month in a row last month – from a 36 per cent drop in September to a 55 per cent decrease in inquiries for October, which represents the lowest figure recorded since the 2008 financial crisis.

In addition, it is now taking 18 weeks on average to sell a residential property, up from a duration of 16 weeks a year ago.

RICS also predicted that the imbalance of demand and supply of homes on the rental market is set to push rents 4 per cent higher in a year’s time.