Rightmove’s October 2023 market report described an unusually subdued autumn increase in asking prices. The average price sought by new sellers reached £368,231, up 0.5% on the previous month. According to the company, this was the smallest October increase since 2008 and below its usual seasonal average of 1.4%.
The source placed that movement against a quieter summer and a period of stretched buyer affordability. An increase in the national average did not mean that sellers could assume strong demand at any price. Rightmove’s commentary instead emphasised the importance of the price attached to an individual listing.
Sales-agreed activity was reported to be 17% below the equivalent period a year earlier. The company also described a lower proportion of marketed homes finding buyers than during the particularly active post-pandemic period. These comparisons reflected the market of autumn 2023, not a present-day assessment of the chance of selling.
At the same time, the report did not describe an absence of buyer interest. Enquiries per available property were said to be 8% above the more typical 2019 comparison. This illustrates how a market can have active searchers while still recording fewer agreed transactions: the stock available, the asking prices and the buyers’ circumstances all affect the next step.
The source linked early enquiries with a higher likelihood of finding a buyer. That association supported estate-agent arguments for an attractive initial presentation and price. It did not establish that a particular reduction would guarantee a sale, or that enquiries alone were equivalent to an offer.
Mortgage commentary in the original referred to falling rates over the preceding eleven weeks and differences between deposit sizes. Those observations are retained only as background to the historic report. No rate quoted in October 2023 should be treated as a current product or a borrowing recommendation.
Read retrospectively, the account shows a market balancing a seasonal increase in seller expectations against more selective buyers. It is a useful reminder to distinguish asking prices, enquiries and agreed sales when interpreting a headline. The figures describe Rightmove’s October 2023 observations and provide no current valuation for an individual home.