Is now a good time to sell a house?

Stamp duty changes put the brakes on the property market earlier this year, but activity has started to pick up again.

HMRC reported a 4% annual increase in transaction volumes in July – the latest figures available. This could leave you wondering whether now is a good time to buy or sell a house, particularly now that the summer lull is over.

While the autumn is often a busy time for moving, sellers should keep in mind that it is a buyer’s market. In some parts of the country, there is a glut of houses listed for sale. This means sellers may face stiff competition and buyers can quickly spot if a property is overpriced.

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Zoopla’s latest house price index, published on 28 August, found there are 10% more homes for sale than a year ago.

Housing supply in London is even higher, up 18% compared to a year ago. In contrast, supply in northern England and Scotland are down 4% and 1% respectively, creating more attractive conditions for sellers.

“Conditions vary widely across the country, which highlights the importance of speaking to a local agent for the right pricing and sales strategy,” said Richard Donnell, Zoopla’s executive director of research.

Setting the right asking price from the start is important, as homes where the price has been slashed take 2.4 times longer to sell on average, Zoopla claims.

Is the housing market slow at the moment?

The speed of the housing market depends on where you are in the UK. Sellers in London and the south east may have a tougher time selling a property than those in the north.

In southern England, sellers took an average 39 days to find a buyer in July, according to Zoopla – 11% longer than the national average of 35 days. In the north west and north east, it took just 27 days.

Rightmove reports a similar trend. Its latest house price index, published on 15 September, found homes in the south of England took an average of five days longer to find a buyer than those in the north and Wales.

This is having a knock-on effect on house prices, with the north of the country experiencing more rapid growth than the south. This is apparent in the latest figures from HM Land Registry.

Among the UK nations, prices grew at the fastest rate in Northern Ireland in the 12 months to July (5.5% annually). Scotland came in second place (3.3%), followed by England (2.7%) and Wales (2%). Of the English regions, the north east experienced the fastest growth (7.9%), while London saw the slowest at 0.7%.

“Over the past months, the dynamics of London’s property market have changed, with some boroughs not experiencing the activity or price growth traditionally associated with a world capital such as London,” said Matt Thompson, head of sales at Chestertons, a London estate agency.

“While this has required buyers and sellers to adjust their approach, it has also created opportunities and enabled some house hunters to find properties that were previously outside their budget.”

Could Budget jitters slow the property market?

Speculation about tax rises in the lead-up to the Autumn Budget could hit property market confidence, making it more difficult to sell a house as uncertainty builds.

Stamp duty reforms are rumoured to be on the table, as well as a so-called mansion tax and new taxes for landlords.

Reports suggest the Treasury is considering pushing the tax burden onto sellers rather than buyers by replacing stamp duty with an annual property tax on homes worth more than £500,000, payable at the point of sale.

On the one hand, scrapping stamp duty could make it more affordable for some people to buy, helping boost transactions. On the other hand, sellers with homes worth more than the £500,000 threshold could end up raising their asking prices to help cover the cost of a tax bill.

The changes would disproportionately impact London and the south east, where properties are more expensive. “This would limit demand for homes in these regions where house prices have already been static… which is likely to lead to house prices falling,” said Zoopla’s Donnell.

For now, it is little more than speculation – but rumours can damage confidence. The latest sentiment survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed a drop in confidence in August. Agents still expect house prices to grow over the next 12 months, but were less confident in this assumption than at any point since December 2023.

“Many selling agents are rolling out the annual excuse of the ‘holiday season’ for sluggish activity, but there is a real sense that the market is cooling and unlikely to breathe signs of recovery until after the Budget,” said survey respondent Neil Foster, a chartered surveyor at Hadrian Property Partners in Northumberland.

Is now a good time to sell a house?

The answer to this question depends on your personal circumstances as well as the state of the property market. You might need to move for work, or could require a larger house for a growing family. In cases like these, timing the market perfectly isn’t always practical.

Competition to secure a buyer is high, but there are steps sellers can take to make their home more sellable. As well as getting the price right, presenting your home in the most attractive light is important.

“We’re finding that well-presented, competitively-priced homes are still attracting strong interest,” said Matt Giggs, founder of The Giggs Group, an estate agency firm in Cambridgeshire.

While house price growth in some regions is slow, it is worth remembering that prices are still hovering around record highs. Average UK house prices rose by 2.8% in the 12 months to July, according to the latest figures from HM Land Registry. This brings the average home to £270,000, which is around £8,000 higher than a year ago.

Even if house price growth slows from here, a weaker market might not matter too much if you are buying and selling at the same time. Although you might get a less attractive offer for your current property, you will be able to drive a harder bargain on the home you are purchasing.

Best time to downsize or upsize

When deciding when to buy or sell a house, you should also factor in the type of move you are making. For example, are you taking a step up the property ladder or downsizing as you approach retirement?

The best time to downsize is generally when property prices are on the rise. If the home you are selling and the property you are buying have both increased in value by 5%, but the home you are selling is worth more, you are likely to profit from the move.

For those who are stepping up and buying a more expensive home, rising property prices make the transaction more expensive.

It is worth pointing out that house prices perform very differently in different parts of the UK, so you may find that prices have not changed in the same way in both your local area and where you would like to move to.

Finally, if you are thinking of selling, you should also consider the costs involved. This can include estate agent fees, legal fees, stamp duty, and capital gains tax in the case of second homes. If you are selling because you would like to free up some money, you should weigh up whether it is still worth it after the costs.