I never knew so many properties went unsold

[Alexalee]

Apparently 2/3rds of London property was removed from the market without selling in 2017

www.cnbc.com/2018/08/09/london-housing-sales-struggle-as-multiple-issues-put-off-buyers.html

Gosh, that's a lot. It shows that most listings in London are not serious listings - more just padding out Rightmove. I wonder why those people list their houses for sale in the first place.

If you are in property you can buy unsold property at a reduced price. It is sold amongst property companies and never becomes available to the public. If you wanted say 10 or more you could get a massive reduction.

User I think you are referring to new properties.
The article refers to all properties.
Lots of delusional time wasters it seems

The sad thing is that a lot of people probably price their own properties in comparison with those unsaleable asking prices. They see what other people are asking, and they think they should ask similar, without realising those prices are unsaleable.

Very true chick

I wonder if people want an idea of the value of their home, are massively flattered and get convinced to market it, and then can’t find anything better enough to move to. (That’s terrible English but I hope it makes sense!)

In my experience, a lot of people take their houses off the market when the chain breaks down, because they just don't have the heart to go through it all again.

Of it takes to long selling so decide to rent it out for a bit instead

I guess this would include anyone who switches agent as a non-sale though

Whichever way it's dressed up only a third of houses that go up for sale actually change hands.
I know a few people who have refused to accept the price of their house has fallen slightly ( still more than double what they paid 5 years ago) and as rates are low they can rent it out and wait.
I see that as very risky because if rates go up and prices fall further they could be in a tricky situation paying for a mortgage and subsidising their other btl mortgage
It seems to be a very dysfunctional market at the moment.

We put our house on the market last year. Went SSTC 6 weeks later but then decided not to sell. House back on the market this year and sold before officially on. Price this year was higher than last year, we were SW London.

So we would have been on your report last year, and on land registerary this year with a sale price.

We were one of those in London in 2017 on Rightmove that didn't sell. We had interested parties that didn't have buyers themselves due to no 1st time buyers entering the market.

DH also had a job offer in hand, we couldn't face hanging on if we got a buyer and the chain falling through if we waited 6 months.

Rents are still very strong, interest rates still very low. I don't regret our decision, we got to move on with our lives.

Call us time wasters if you will.

I sometimes see houses (not in London) on zoopla or RM that have been for sale for several years without a reduction in the asking asking price. I often wonder if some people simply like showing off their house on the internet, and Rightmove is sometimes a selfie website for houses.

I dont know if i am that shocked tbh
We sold last year in the south east same day on market for more than asking price.
Trying to buy a house in East Sussex was more tricky. Local estate agent told me that lots of houses go unsold/never complete because people put theirs on the market with unrealistic expectations of what they are going to buy next/ availability.

As @namechange has experienced if there are no FTB/entry level purchases people higher up will struggle to sell. The lower rung is missing as prices are too high. Those at the very top will have to adjust expectations down so whole chain is accessible to first rung. Renting it out if you can't sell will slowly become less of an option as the government continues it's crack down on landlords. Tough times.

You might be right chick... If they are in no rush just stick it on for what you want... it will be worth it one day even if it's 5 years time...feel sorry for the agents in those cases
I think the issue is the gap between what's needed to move to the next step has become too big now... e.g. 10 years ago a 3 bed flat was probably 200k and 3 bed house 250k so a 50k difference to find... same area a 2 bed flat is 300k and 3 bed house 450k so 150k to find... needing a seriously big pay rise or some sort of inheritance or bomad help
That's why people need to hold on for higher prices because they can't move without every penny

Kamma I think you have hit the nail on the head there
And to be honest the only people that will lose out are the downsizers at the top of the market... but most of them are boomers and will have made plenty of money from house price rises over the last 30 years

We put our 2 bed flat on in March last year for 425 at the same time and price as one up the road. We sold in about six weeks but for 10k under, the other flat is STILL on rightmove 18 months later, been slightly reduced. Think we were v lucky.

It seems being stubborn is costing people money and sales.
Congrats saga

Something is only worth what someone else is prepared to pay for it.

The overall picture for the whole of the UK is over half the properties brought to market subsequently get withdrawn having failed to achieve a sale... as already said, lots of deluded, time wasting kite flyers out there.

The property market is not really a market if sellers won't adjust their prices to what buyers can pay. It is more like a museum, with exhibits on display for the entertainment of visitors.

@Fab If the property market is like a museum, the estate agents are more like unpaid curators, than salespeople.

People who are not selling are likely to be in negative equity or find they are unable to afford the next step up the ladder. I very much doubt it’s the downsizes significant LG contributing to that number.

I have a relative who works in this field who says that the vast majority of house sales fall through because people who put offers in fail to get a mortgage. It’s very common these days due to stricter lending laws. A lot of people fail the affordability tests. Home owners then either rent out their house or get an extension instead.