If you’re thinking about selling your home in Holsworthy, the surrounding hamlets or Bude, October sent a very clear message. Buyers are still out there and still buying. They’re just a lot more careful with their money than they were a few months ago.
Here’s why. Mortgage rates have climbed sharply since the spring, and typical two-year fixed deals are now close to 6%. That has added around £250 a month to a typical new mortgage since February. When the monthly cost goes up, the price people are willing to pay comes down.
You can see it in the local numbers. Average asking prices slipped to £347,850 in October, down from £349,950 in September. Homes are taking 75 days on average to find a buyer, compared with 66 days this time last year. And four in ten homes on the market have now had at least one price reduction.
The gap between the asking price and the selling price has widened too. On average, homes are now selling for 95.8% of the asking price. On a £350,000 home, that’s around £14,700 below the figure on the listing.
The cost of starting too high
Here’s the part that really matters for you. Homes that need a price cut take far longer to sell than homes that are priced right from the start. Rightmove’s latest figures show a home listed at the right price finds a buyer in about 39 days. One that needs a reduction takes around 119 days. That’s an extra two and a half months of viewings, tidying and waiting, and you usually end up at the lower price anyway.
So what should you do?
- Start at the right price. Your first two weeks on the market are when you get the most attention. A realistic price from day one gets you offers. An optimistic one gets you a price cut in December.
- Make your home the easy choice. With plenty of homes for buyers to compare, great photos, a clear floor plan and a well-presented home put you at the top of the list.
- Protect your sale once you’ve agreed it. About one in four sales is currently falling through before completion. Having your paperwork ready and choosing a buyer whose finances are solid gives you the best chance of getting over the line.
- Think about timing. If you want to be moved by spring, getting on the market in November means you can agree a sale before Christmas and complete in the new year.
The numbers in full
This isn’t a falling market. Local sold prices actually ticked up slightly last month, to £298,100. It’s a market where buyers have choice and stretched budgets, so the sellers who price and present well are the ones who move.
If you’d like a quick starting point, try my free online value estimate. If you’d rather have an honest opinion on what your home would sell for right now, I’m always happy to come round for a chat. For more on pricing and choosing an agent, see my advice for sellers, and you’ll find every past homeowner edition in Plot & Shore.
A note on the numbers: the EX22 and EX23 figures are my own estimates, built from the latest Rightmove, ONS / Land Registry and Zoopla releases for the South West, Torridge and Cornwall. The 39 and 119 day figures are national, from Rightmove’s October 2026 data.