The softening of house sales continued into August in what is already one of the quieter months of the year. Rightmove reported asking prices were down 1.9%, the biggest fall in August since 2018. Nationwide recorded a more modest fall of 0.8%, and Halifax's index was down by 1.9%.
","Slug":"watford-and-hertfordshire-market-report","Date":"2023-09-21","news_category":{"Title":"SALES","Slug":"sales-and-lettings"},"Image":{"alternativeText":"","url":"https://ggfx-rolstons.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/i.prod/shutterstock_1476579617_d2af368526.jpg","url_sharp":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","backgroundColor":"#f8f8f8","images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/ffbb15455adb84702d1c169050e42131/e9fbf/shutterstock_1476579617_d2af368526.jpg","srcSet":"/static/ffbb15455adb84702d1c169050e42131/47073/shutterstock_1476579617_d2af368526.jpg 210w,\n/static/ffbb15455adb84702d1c169050e42131/92751/shutterstock_1476579617_d2af368526.jpg 420w,\n/static/ffbb15455adb84702d1c169050e42131/e9fbf/shutterstock_1476579617_d2af368526.jpg 840w,\n/static/ffbb15455adb84702d1c169050e42131/92058/shutterstock_1476579617_d2af368526.jpg 1680w","sizes":"(min-width: 840px) 840px, 100vw"},"sources":[{"srcSet":"/static/ffbb15455adb84702d1c169050e42131/5dc88/shutterstock_1476579617_d2af368526.webp 210w,\n/static/ffbb15455adb84702d1c169050e42131/239c3/shutterstock_1476579617_d2af368526.webp 420w,\n/static/ffbb15455adb84702d1c169050e42131/61848/shutterstock_1476579617_d2af368526.webp 840w,\n/static/ffbb15455adb84702d1c169050e42131/831ed/shutterstock_1476579617_d2af368526.webp 1680w","type":"image/webp","sizes":"(min-width: 840px) 840px, 100vw"}]},"width":840,"height":480}}}},"Author":{"Image":{"alternativeText":"","url":"https://ggfx-rolstons.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/i.prod/Chat_GPT_Image_Aug_11_2026_05_13_35_PM_6d4b0b83dd.png","url_sharp":{"childImageSharp":{"gatsbyImageData":{"layout":"constrained","backgroundColor":"#282848","images":{"fallback":{"src":"/static/cd23a9f3ca94d5cd8963db9d82492ac5/1c9ce/Chat_GPT_Image_Aug_11_2026_05_13_35_PM_6d4b0b83dd.png","srcSet":"/static/cd23a9f3ca94d5cd8963db9d82492ac5/fbc98/Chat_GPT_Image_Aug_11_2026_05_13_35_PM_6d4b0b83dd.png 16w,\n/static/cd23a9f3ca94d5cd8963db9d82492ac5/914ee/Chat_GPT_Image_Aug_11_2026_05_13_35_PM_6d4b0b83dd.png 32w,\n/static/cd23a9f3ca94d5cd8963db9d82492ac5/1c9ce/Chat_GPT_Image_Aug_11_2026_05_13_35_PM_6d4b0b83dd.png 64w,\n/static/cd23a9f3ca94d5cd8963db9d82492ac5/bf8e1/Chat_GPT_Image_Aug_11_2026_05_13_35_PM_6d4b0b83dd.png 128w","sizes":"(min-width: 64px) 64px, 100vw"},"sources":[{"srcSet":"/static/cd23a9f3ca94d5cd8963db9d82492ac5/e789a/Chat_GPT_Image_Aug_11_2026_05_13_35_PM_6d4b0b83dd.webp 16w,\n/static/cd23a9f3ca94d5cd8963db9d82492ac5/ef6ff/Chat_GPT_Image_Aug_11_2026_05_13_35_PM_6d4b0b83dd.webp 32w,\n/static/cd23a9f3ca94d5cd8963db9d82492ac5/8257c/Chat_GPT_Image_Aug_11_2026_05_13_35_PM_6d4b0b83dd.webp 64w,\n/static/cd23a9f3ca94d5cd8963db9d82492ac5/6766a/Chat_GPT_Image_Aug_11_2026_05_13_35_PM_6d4b0b83dd.webp 128w","type":"image/webp","sizes":"(min-width: 64px) 64px, 100vw"}]},"width":64,"height":64}}}},"JobTitle":"Managing Director","Name":"Paul Gillespie FNAEA MARLA","Position":1},"Content":[{"id":"65256d00de41dcb300f4d170","moduleType":"NormalText","moduleData":{"Text":"The softening of house sales continued into August in what is already one of the quieter months of the year. Rightmove reported asking prices were down 1.9%, the biggest fall in August since 2018. Nationwide recorded a more modest monthly fall of 0.8%, and Halifax's index was down by 1.9%.
\nAll the indices note, though, that the pandemic and the stamp duty holidays have fuelled some extraordinary increases in house prices over the last few years, and despite the recent falls, prices are still comfortably above their more normal pre-pandemic levels (2019). For example, in December 2019, Nationwide’s average house price was £215,282. It is now £259,153 - a rise of just over 20%. Rightmove’s average house price was £300,025 in December 2019 but is now £364,895, up just under 22%.
\nThat may not be much comfort to those who bought at the height of the market in the Summer of 2022, but prices and sales have held up surprisingly well, even since then. Nationwide’s index shows prices have only dropped by 5.3% from their August 2022 high. And Rightmove’s index, which peaked a little later (October 2022), reveals asking prices have fallen by 1.7%. On the other hand, sales volumes have come down by as much as 15% over the same period, although, just as with prices, that’s post the pandemic’s exceptional levels of activity.
\nThe good news is that Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, has just announced that the base rate will remain at 5.25% this month, ending almost two years of consecutive rises. In response, costs of 5-year fixed rate mortgages have fallen below 5%. The news will provide some much-needed confidence to hesitant buyers. However, with so many borrowers on fixed-rate mortgages, it may take a while for all the previous increases to feed through the system and for the implications of the change in the trajectory of the base rate to sink in.
\nAs Paul Gillespie, Managing Director, Rolstons, says:
\n“It’s fair to say that house prices have proven more resilient than expected so far this year, despite higher interest rates weighing on buyer demand. However, there is always a lag-effect where rate increases are concerned, and we may now be seeing a greater impact from higher mortgage costs flowing through to house prices.”
\nWage growth, softening house prices and falling mortgage costs are likely to mean that affordability levels should gradually ease. Affordability has been severely stretched in recent years, and any improvement will help bring some much-needed balance to the housing market.
\nRental & Buy-To-Let Market
\nRents continued their upward trajectory in August, with the UK’s average hitting £1,243pcm. That’s a rise of 1.1% from July and 10.3% annually. In London, the average rent is £2,109pcm, a jump of 1.5% from the previous month and 12.9% from the same period last year. One of the bigger rises occurred in Scotland, where the lettings industry is more tightly regulated. There, rents jumped by an eye-watering 3.5% in just a single month and up 15.8% annually. In some London boroughs, there were some even steeper rises – in Barking, rents have shot up by 21.2% over the last twelve months, and in Lewisham and Southwark, the figure was 18.4%.
\nUnsurprisingly, rising rents are having a very real impact on affordability - tenants now spend an average of 32.1% of their income on their rent, up from 30.2% a year ago. In the capital, the figure was 38.3%.
\nAs Breydon Duffy, Lettings Manager of Rolstons, points out:
\n“We’re now edging towards a situation where a large proportion of tenants are simply unable to afford to live. This should not be mistaken for all-time margins for landlords, as they cannot rely on rental income.”
\nIf you'd like to talk to an agent for more personalised advice, our team are always on hand to help. We'd love to hear from you whether it's just a quick chat or a no-obligation property valuation.
\nWarm wishes,
\nThe team at Rolstons
\n\n
FURTHER INFORMATION
\n","Title":null,"moduleClass":null,"sectionSpacing":"py-0"}}]}}},"pageContext":{"id":"65256d00de41dcb300f4d16f","slug":"watford-and-hertfordshire-market-report"}}, "staticQueryHashes": ["1256376345","1408117452","1948870801","2139096586","2317203506","2804000090","3701841254","4120168078","4242342462","727504275"]}