Yahoo Finance Easter brought new seller surge as property market rebounds
Easter brought more than chocolate eggs this time as Thursday 28th March was the biggest day for new sellers coming on to the property market so far this year.
There were 45% more homes added to Rightmove on Thursday 28th March than the previous Thursday, as people got their homes on the market to try and capture the attention of buyers across the Easter weekend, according to the property portal.
It was the third biggest day for new listings coming up for sale since August 2020, with Boxing Day in 2022 and 2023 being the only days with more properties coming to market in one day.
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Rightmove’s property expert, Tim Bannister, said: “A huge number of new sellers came to market as we all geared up for the Easter break, all hoping to capture the attention of those buyers using the long weekend to home hunt alongside their Easter egg hunts.
“It’s still a price sensitive market, so while the uptick in activity we’ve seen over the past few months is a positive sign, sellers still need to heed the advice from their agent on pricing competitively to help secure a successful sale,” he added.
The property market continues its recovery following a flat 2023, with asking prices up by 0.8% over the past year, currently standing at £368,118 across Great Britain.
A regional look compared to pre-COVID years shows varying regional price variations, with asking prices up between 8% and 29%.
London, the country’s priciest area to buy a property, saw house prices go up from £638,826 in March 2020 to £686,844 last month, an uplift of 8%.
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At the top of that table is Wales, where the average house prices surged 29% since COVID – over £50k – from £199,249 to £256,499.
The average house price across Great Britain climbed 18% since the pandemic at currently sits at £368,118, some £55.5k more.
The Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at a 16-year high of 5.25% for the fifth time in a row in March.
Traders widely expect the first rate cut to take place in the summer, either in June or August.
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