Higher mortgage rates and political uncertainty have led to a sharper-than-usual summer slowdown in the property market, according to the website Zoopla. House price growth has been dampened by the lack of sales, as more properties on the market means less competition and fewer bidding wars. This is when many sellers decide to cut the price of their home in order to engineer a sale. The share of sellers cutting their asking price by 5 per cent or more consistently peaks in September, according to Zoopla. He says that sellers whose homes are still sitting at their spring asking price in October risk missing this window of activity.