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

Good houses, sensibly priced are still selling fast in my area. But older Victorian and 1930s properties do always tend to sell much faster in my area than newish houses (less than 10 years old but not brand new). The newer ones tend to to be bedroom-heavy and to be in less convenient locations - the areas are safe but a bit soulless with few amenities within walking distance.

It sounds like yours has many positives OP so make sure they are as immediately apparent as possible to people like me scrolling though rightmove who might usually not give much notice to newish houses. Good photos, clear descriptions with room sizes on floor plan. Highlight positives - energy efficiency, transport links, schools, other local amenities/attractions.

There is 'little demand at the moment' because the prices are too high! The market is telling people this but they continue to ignore it.

I wouldn’t spend that much on a soulless new build.

If you want to sell, drop the price.
Make it too good to not buy.
People are very cautious at the moment, the world is a very uncertain place both physically and financially.
Houses are over priced (and over sized for what they now cost to run).
People are running to spend their money anymore.

Because confidence in the economy is a rock bottom, the costs of moving are now through the roof thanks to the hike in stamp duty, and there is so much uncertainty on top of that, so absolutely no one is even thinking about moving house unless they really have to.

Weve been trying to sell for over a year, hardly anyone has even come to look. We had one couple who were really interested but then their sale fell through. It's just a terrible time to be selling.

I have a nice 4 bed new build house, when we bought (and next door same time) it was snapped up straight away but a year later, the other side are struggling to sell theirs because there is a war on, it’s not the house it’s the climate

New builds tend to drop in value for the first few years after purchase, why pay more for nearly new?

This! I was an estate agent for a few years in the 1980s, and even when prices were rising rapidly, new builds wouldn't fetch their original price, let alone more, for a couple of years. It was still true 4 years ago, when a friend needed to sell her 3-year old house because she'd developed a disability that made it no longer suitable for her. She had to sell it for around 8% less than she'd paid for it.

It took my parents about two years to sell our house in the 1990s in a poor market.

Don’t dwell on any prices for housing in 2020, the market went mental. I had two friends trying to buy that year who had both got divorced. The house across the road from me sold for 500k, for the area I live in up North that is higher end. A year later the house next door that is the same exact house but is a show home couldn’t sell for 50k less. The house that sold in 2020 had not had a new kitchen or bathroom for close to 20 years and was needing a lot of work done on it. So far it’s had a bathroom, kitchen and new windows.

Three houses have gone up for my sale in my road in the last month and two have already sold. Assuming the price was realistic. That’s good in a flat market.

Absolutely this
I live in an area in which houses literally sold overnight, the day they were put on
Leafy village, a few miles from a city, excellent transport links,train station to London, one stop takes you to a hub for the North, excellent schools, independent shops, farm shops etc blah blah
Several houses have been on for months and price has been reduced by 100K
Still no offers a year on
Just had a look and similar sold for more than 130K than the reduced price in 2024.
The market is at a standstill
Bear in mind the market has also slowed at the FTB end of the chain as H2B was pulled.
The market for new builds was inflated massively by that with people buying larger properties as FTB

Personally I would sit tight for a bit

Those saying “it’s always the price” are right BUT the price someone is willing to pay will be reflected by what is going on in the world economy. Unless you are desperate to move or have found your dream forever home (& are prepared to ‘lose’ money by selling now) then I’d either come off the sales market altogether or leave it another couple of months (without reducing) but not get my hopes up. The economy was already in trouble before Trump’s latest insanity and the property market will be in sync…

I am not surprised at the feedback the agent has given you. It is very hard to get accurate, actionable feedback from viewers. They are reluctant to be blunt or wholly truthful. E.g. don't like the decor, thought the photos were misleading, saw something in general area that don't like and you have no control over so no point in mentioning, tyre kickers.

Lots of new builds are leasehold. This can put people off. If it's leasehold can you buy the lease to make it freehold?

The market. My neighbour's really lovely 4 bed has been on the market for a year. Reduced three times.

My friend has given up and taken her flat off the market.

Price, it might have been worth £700k a year ago, or even a month ago. But right now no one is willing to pay £649k.

You have two choices, keep it on the market, hope things pick up, confidence improves and someone comes along.

Keep dropping the price, it will sell at some point.

It's the price, then. We've had a load of offers on our house and we're not even on the market. It's gone up £95k since we bought ours and we've ragged ours a bit...

It has to be the price. The average time to sale near us is 9 days at the moment.

It's not. People are just nosey and want to have a look at your house. To be honest though, if it's on Rightmove anyway, not sure theres any reason not to post it up. You may even get a buyer.

I think a lot of it's down to the uncertainty at the moment. Noone knows how long the USA/ Iran war will go on and how that will affect the market and interest rates.

£649,000 is a lot of money for the Warwickshire boarders.

@Housesellinghelp we are in exactly the same position as you.
'new build' five bed, four bathrooms. David Wilson private landscaped estate. Built 2009.
We had a private offer last year for £695k and have now had to drop to £600k. Sadly for health reasons we have to sell but it's getting low interest.
I've had interest at what I paid for it three years ago but that was from a developer.
My house is a different layout to yours without open plan. It's been ideal for adult DC as they have their own bathroom. We're Wiltshire with top schools, shops etc. 1 hour train journey to London.
Fwiw my mortgage went to 7% last year and I couldn't change it due to ill health. If you really need to move think about the next house you want and has that suffered a drop?. I'm going back to a lateral cottage and that hasn't gone down in price, ditto bungalows.

If you want detailed feedback post a link.
I’d suspect it’s caution in financially demanding times and uncertainty with war.
I’m also seeing a trend online of downsizing and less is more, spend time on experiences not property.
Families are smalller. If you only have 2 children a 4 bed and 4 bathroom isn’t needed. Realistically if a couple are working then they’ll probably need a cleaner for house that size.
People who like new builds like brand new not 7 yr old.

You'll only know why it isn't selling by getting feedback from the viewers and estate agent.

It's still early in the year, so it may pick up now the weather has improved, it's school holidays too so families will have more time to view. There are also many other factors affecting the housing market at the moment so you may just have to be patient.

Ensure your house is super tidy before viewings so it looks like there is enough storage for a family and the kitchen has clear surfaces and doesn't need maintenance etc Keep an eye on your local competition and make sure your house is the best option will give you the best chance of selling in this market.

This with 4 bathrooms suggests the rooms might be on the small side. I had a house this size or thereabouts and 2 bathrooms/all small double bedrooms. I can’t imagine where you could have fitted 2 more bathrooms.

New builds on large estates on the re-sale market are always harder to shift than brand new houses, or character/period properties, or older houses on more spacious plots with wider streets and better parking.