AIBU to wonder why our fairly priced new-build house is not selling?

Ludicrous comment.

Sounds like my sibling’s house. They just took £80k less than they paid in 2020 as they as desperate to move and downsize. They can no longer afford the mortgage payment, council tax and utilities. Had been on and off the market for a year.

Here's one similar (4bed, baths, garage etc) but not exactly the same, in what looks like a desirable area but priced a lot higher - possibly overpriced in the current market but leaving room to test the market.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/174032819#/media?id=media0&channel=RES_BUY

I’m currently looking to move. The sort of house you describe comes up in my searches and I generally ignore them. For me, I have no interest in living on a new build estate in a cookie cutter house (I already have one of those that I am trying to leave!).

Other people do though so it’s one of two things:

• There are actual new builds similar to yours where buyers get to start from scratch and have the full 10 year warranty
• There simply aren’t that many buyers with that sort of budget at the moment

I honestly don't know how many normal young families could afford that. Maybe the people who used to be able to afford 4 beds are now in 3 beds with little prospect of moving. Food etc is very expensive now.

The same happens here but that’s because they’re solidly built houses on enormous plots. One local agent has a list of people to notify when they come on to the market. The same can’t be said of any other local properties at the moment. The market generally is dead as a dodo.

Ex show homes are generally a bit bigger to fool people.

I don't much like newbuilds and would probably find fault with all of it, but from what you're saying, I suspect the sticking point is that it's a large house with just a single living/dining/kitchen area. Even with a much more modest budget than I'd need to buy your house, I'd consider the lack of a separate kitchen or kitchen/diner a red line I wasn't willing to cross. But as everyone's said, we can't really say anything very specific without a link.

Ultimately, your bigger problem is the general state of global political and economic uncertainty.

Opposite where I live. Houses sell within a few days of being advertised online. In high demand. Ex council housing stock.

This.

Exactly. We are due to remortgage soon. At the beginning of the year, rates had dropped to 3.9% now we’ll be lucky to stay on our current rate of 4.7%. I’m worried.

Was gunna ay this!! My sister's mortgage for the property she's buying has overnight gone up £200 per month. For many people this would be the deal breaker

The only people getting a mortgage on that would need a household income of £150k+. That's going to be a very small percentage off people and there's plenty of expensive houses for them to pick from. The housing market does not reflect the actual demographics of buyers, hence why there is fierce competition for the smaller, cheaper properties.

This is a good point - we saw a new build with en suites for each bedroom- but no space for a wardrobe! Literally you could just get a bed and a chest of drawers in.

We moved in 2024 (to the south coast of England from rural Wales) and one of our neighbours has recently sold for 100k less than they paid 3+ years ago.

The road is a popular conservation area. Theirs is a newer build townhouse (1997) whereas ours is a Georgian cottage. The neighbour bought the townhouse in late 2022 (paid 425k), did very little to it (vendor had put in a new kitchen and two bathrooms prior to selling), except replace the established garden with decking.

In 2024 they put it back on the market at 595k. Tumbleweed. They rented it out for a while. Remarketed at a slightly lower price. Eventually reduced to 350k last Autumn. The sale completed last week and the new owner is moving in today. She paid 325k!

We're planning to sell as soon as our renovations are complete - hopefully things will have improved by then.

@Housesellinghelp if you don't need to upsize urgently and you like the area/house, could you consider extending to get a fifth bedroom - I guess not if you have a typical new build small garden?

And I am not suggesting this is the case for you but the reason I said nobody would be able to answer unless they had been there is that a few years ago I went to view a property that a friend was interested in and it smelled odd.

The photos are attracting views though.

sorry if I missed this but have you had any feedback from the agents?

I suspect that the posters who have said that the current economic uncertainty - rising mortgage rates, the war in the Middle East, rising fuel prices etc - is putting people off from buying houses at the moment, @Housesellinghelp.

Unless someone is knowledgeable about property and has actually been in your house (as even photos don’t give the whole story), not sure how they can answer your question tbh.

i totally agree! Would prefer a walk in wardrobe.

Why would you need new flooring in a 7 year old house. Whatever you do you should not agree to purchase a new house until your current house is fully sold.

Number of transactions? Or buyers looking to buy? Or houses for sale?

So this is brand spanking new and selling for the same as your 7yo house, maybe yours is a tiny bit overpriced?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/171424265

Can you comfortably fit 6 or 7 people round a dining table?
Can you comfortably fit those people in the living room?

Bedrooms not tiny at all. 14 x 15 . All doubles. Ex show home. My house is larger than the OPS.

I've lived in cottages so it's great that four of the five have fitted wardrobes too.

I wouldn't call that 4 bathrooms, Id call it 3 bathrooms and a downstairs loo.
I know this area well as have family there, 675 is a lot for a 4 bed newbuild as they generally have smaller gardens than older houses, plus the 'double bedrooms' are typically more modestly sized than in older houses.