The average urban brownfield land value across England had fallen by 20% since the most recent market peak between Q1 2022 and Q3 2023, with greenfield site values down by 17% in the same period.

Asked for their prediction on the direction of land prices, 48% of housebuilder respondents said they expect a fall in land values in Q4 this year in comparison to Q3, while another 48% predicted they would stay flat.

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The Knight Frank report also revealed that home sale rates have dipped further in recent weeks, with several housebuilders reporting sales rates under 0.50.

Although sales rates rose to 0.60 in H1 2023 from 0.49 in H2 2022, this is below the long run average of 0.70 sales per outlet per week.

In addition, the report highlighted that 60% of housebuilder respondents were offering non-cash items as incentives to boost sales, such as carpets and white goods, while over 40% offered contributions to legal fees or stamp duty, and another quarter offering deposit contributions.