Asking prices are up by 7.4% year-on-year in Essex

The average price of property coming to the market rises by 0.9% (+£3,398) in the month to a new record of £371,158:

• This 0.9% rise is a softening from the five-year average rise in October of 1.2%
• There is little sign of downwards price pressure on existing properties for sale. The number of homes seeing a reduction in the month creeps up by 2% to 23%

Rapid mortgage rate rises understandably cause some new movers to pause their plans and wait to see how the next few weeks unfold:

• Buyer demand is still 20% higher than the more normal market of 2019, but it is down by 15% in the last two weeks compared with the same two weeks last year
• The first-time buyer sector appears hardest hit by interest rate increases, with demand in the last two weeks dropping by 21% compared to the same two weeks last year, though it is 24% higher than 2019

The vast majority of agreed sales are still going ahead:

• Only 3.1% of sales agreed have fallen through in the two weeks since the mini-budget, which is in line with the 3.0% over the same two weeks during 2019
• Agents report that buyers are rushing to complete before their lower fixed-rate mortgage offers expire