The best way to sell your house in a buyers' market

In the current climate, buyers can afford to be fussier than ever - so if you’re thinking of selling, you need to adhere to the golden rules of closing a sale, says Annunziata Rees-Mogg.

In the current climate, buyers can afford to be fussier than ever - so if you're thinking of selling, you need to adhere to the golden rules of closing a sale, says Annunziata Rees-Mogg.

Estate agents and house-price index compilers are becoming increasingly well known for their relentless optimism. Take the latest comment from Halifax, which informs us that prices in London increased by 0.1% in March "suggesting that the market in the capital may be stabilising". The truth is that any number as small as 0.1% tells us absolutely nothing at all - it is statistically meaningless. To see a meaningful number, look instead to transaction levels. Mortgage approvals fell to a five-year low of 82,000 in December, fell a further 3,000 in January (despite the fact that December is traditionally the weakest month), and while they recovered to 86,000 in February, this still makes them 35% below a year ago. What's more, according to Nationwide, UK house prices fell by 0.6% in March, the biggest fall since 1995 and one just about big enough to be considered statistically significant. MoneyWeek has been warning of the real fragility of the UK housing market since last May, but even now it rather looks as though the pain is only just beginning.

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Annunziata Rees-Mogg

Annunziata was a deputy editor at MoneyWeek, covering financial markets, politics, economics and comment pieces. She then went on to the Daily Telegraph as a lead writer where she wrote a column on young women’s financial issues. She was briefly a member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands region in the UK as part of the Conservative Party.  Annunziata continues to write  as a freelance journalist.