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Original poster

Anyone's houses NOT selling? SE London

89 replies

goodnotbad · 12/09/2021 11:29

Hi All
Everything I read and hear seems to be about properties selling really fast and people having to over bid etc - well not in our case!

We've been on the market since late June (so out of reach for the SD holiday).
4 bedroom mid terrace.
Nice area of SE London.
Went up for £1,150,000
At our request reduced to £1.1M at the beginning of Sep

We have had approx 20 viewings but no offers - not even daft ones!

I believe it is overpriced just like the rest of the market which was artificially inflated due to the SD holiday.

Feedback we get is:
Garages at back putting people off - we've been here 17 years and never had a problem but they do look ugly and I can understand people worry about being burgled or the site being sold for development in the future (I wish someone would just build on it TBH.
Garden too small - pretty typical size for area but only 30ft.

We are really near lovely local primary schools, lots of parks and green spaces, lovely high street and the house has been extended with bi-folding doors in the kitchen.
We don't have a kitchen island.
It could be moved into but new owners would definitely want to redecorate to their taste and sort out squeaky floor boards etc. But nothing urgent.

I'm also wondering if the buyers in this price price bracket want something that needs absolutely nothing doing to it. We bought 17 years ago so not in this bracket all. The area has increased in value a lot since we have been here.

Just wondering if anyone else is having trouble selling in SE London as everything I read seems to be about houses selling within hours!!
Thanks for reading.

OP posts:
DeadHouseBounce · 12/09/2021 21:54

A lot of the "booming market" stuff is EA/media hype IMO, but if you dont want "daft" offers dont list at a daft price seems to be good advice.

Changechangychange · 12/09/2021 22:03

@DeadHouseBounce

A lot of the "booming market" stuff is EA/media hype IMO, but if you don`t want "daft" offers don`t list at a daft price seems to be good advice.
To be fair, in the East Dulwich/North Dulwich areas, people are asking >£1m for houses that were on at £800k pre-lockdown, and they seem to be flying off the shelves. Obviously I have no idea what the actual sold prices are, but asking prices are definitely up and the properties aren’t stuck on the market round here.

I am hoping it’s a bubble, because we’ve been priced out. Can afford £850-950, can’t afford £1.1m.

gibletjane · 12/09/2021 22:19

Yes booming market reports/increased prices are often based on house asking prices as opposed to selling prices. I know my neighbour has accepted an 80k reduction but this won't show yet.

MarshaBradyo · 12/09/2021 22:24

I agree with pp SE London differs a lot from ED to further out

Even crossing to zone 3 is a drop

DeadHouseBounce · 12/09/2021 22:45

It is an obvious mania, many people will be badly hurt if mortgage rates start rising at this level of bubble.

Silkiescatz · 12/09/2021 23:39

When I was selling I found the getagent.co.uk site useful to see how long houses were taking to sell by estate agent locally and % of asking price achieved, may be worth a look.

ShingleBeach · 13/09/2021 08:21

OP, as you have had over 20 viewings people are coming to look based in the online presentation.

What feedback is the EA getting as to why they don’t offer?

Are the pictures too good compared with the reality?

deathbollywood · 13/09/2021 08:53

@DeadHouseBounce

It is an obvious mania, many people will be badly hurt if mortgage rates start rising at this level of bubble.
if you look at what the government and BOE/regulators did during the pandemic to help homeowners (payment holidays, stamp duty holiday) you can see that they will not raise interest rates very much at all as they do not want to destabilise the housing market. Too many people will be in difficulty not to mention the impact on banks if there is a hard landing to this boom.
kirinm · 13/09/2021 11:59

@AlfonsoTheMango

The answer is: if it's not selling it's overpriced, especially if everything else is selling within hours. How is your house prices relative to similar houses in the neighbourhood?

It's great that the house is near parks and schools but the SE isn't great for public transport for that money I'd want something super-special. The extension with bi-fold doors opening on to the garden is everywhere and will look dated in a few years so I wouldn't consider that a plus if I were a buyer. How many bathrooms does it have? If you are selling at that price you need at least two for a four-bedroom house. The garages in back and small garden would also put me off. And mid-terrace isn't anything particularly notable.

Sorry to be so negative but in your situation I would drop the price.

SE London is a huge place and has great transport links. What you mean is, it doesn't have the tube.

I'm in Zone 2, SE London and you don't see many houses on for less than £1.0m.

SD25 · 13/09/2021 16:20

Yes. And if there's one mode of transport people are avoiding right now, it's the tube.

MarshaBradyo · 13/09/2021 17:29

Tbh the overground is much nicer than the tube

I’d take the London Bridge overground over the northern line to work any day

We moved here before all that and then it was buses

TheWayTheLightFalls · 13/09/2021 18:52

You bought 17 years ago so for a lot less than £1.1m. What are you looking to move on to? How much do you need to sell this house for I order to get what you need?

This. I know SE London well (my corner of it, at least). Things are selling (including poky flats) but it’s about £££. You do see prices dropping because no buyer out there wants to stump up £1.8m for a house in the posh end of New Cross or £1.5m for a Brockley semi that only works if you commute by hovercraft and have female DC. Rightly. So if you want to sell in anything like a hurry, drop the price.

Manoverboard2021 · 13/09/2021 21:11

Hah, I've seen the £1.8m New Cross Gate house that's been listed a while. It's not even the best position on the hill (too close to NXg station and iirc not even semi-detached. They've obviously spent a lot of money on it but for that price someone could buy in Dulwich....

TheWayTheLightFalls · 13/09/2021 21:36

@Manoverboard2021 yes - it was/is on with Foxtons and another localish independent agent I think, and iirc the latter made reference to Kevin McCloud/Grand Designs in describing the place. Which is lovely but still pitched at about £300k more expensive than the most expensive thing in the neighbourhood, even if you can hang four bikes up in the basement.

If the owner of 80-something A. Road in SE14 is on here and wondering why their house isn’t selling, you need to drop the price Grin.

Sorry to derail OP. I’m on Rightmove a lot and eagerly await the fate of this house.

Doubleraspberry · 13/09/2021 22:30

We failed to sell in SE London this year, as did friends. Houses sat on the market, reduced and reduced, and in the end we gave up. Agents said the market is 'sticky'. I'm not sure where people have seen houses in East Dulwich flying off the shelf as many in that area (I was looking for months) have NOT sold quickly, and reductions have been rife. Part of it is agents overpricing on valuation no doubt, but also it felt very much like it was the place everyone was trying to leave - not just ED but SE London more widely - so not many people buying.

hahaboink · 13/09/2021 22:35

@EmbarrassingMama

Where in SE London are you? If you’re in ED or Dulwich village it sounds like it’s priced well. If it’s Catford or Penge then definitely not.
Yes I was about to say this, SE London could be Lewisham or it could be Dulwich village. There's a difference! I live in SE London and things are still selling without even being listed.
hahaboink · 13/09/2021 22:37

@Doubleraspberry

We failed to sell in SE London this year, as did friends. Houses sat on the market, reduced and reduced, and in the end we gave up. Agents said the market is 'sticky'. I'm not sure where people have seen houses in East Dulwich flying off the shelf as many in that area (I was looking for months) have NOT sold quickly, and reductions have been rife. Part of it is agents overpricing on valuation no doubt, but also it felt very much like it was the place everyone was trying to leave - not just ED but SE London more widely - so not many people buying.
That's interesting because it's not my experience at all in my little part of SE London. We have had many friends leave over the past 6 months and they have all sold with multiple offers on the first viewing. Most over asking price!
Doubleraspberry · 13/09/2021 22:57

That's interesting because it's not my experience at all in my little part of SE London. We have had many friends leave over the past 6 months and they have all sold with multiple offers on the first viewing. Most over asking price!

Very much not the norm in my bit. Not many people viewing things, very few places going quickly. The end of the SD holiday has had a big impact, and numbers of buyers started falling once completion was unlikely in the time frame. Had we been desperate to sell, we would have dropped our price hugely but we weren't that fussed so decided to take it off the market and think about trying again next year when it might be easier to find somewhere to buy (out of London) anyway. In the weeks we were on the market, the only houses similar to ours that were selling were dropping their prices. I only saw one house go under offer quickly. It did not feel like a hot market at all.

kirinm · 14/09/2021 11:04

I'm here for the gossip on the £1.8m TH house.

That agent massively overprices everything. And their narrative guff is terrible. "

kirinm · 14/09/2021 11:05

My experience of friend's selling in the SE15 / SE22 postcodes has been that it has taken a couple of weeks / a month but they've all gone at close to asking.

ElizabethTudor · 14/09/2021 11:15

@kirinm

I'm here for the gossip on the £1.8m TH house.

That agent massively overprices everything. And their narrative guff is terrible. "

Not that I have £1.85m to spend (ha!) But I really don’t like that TH house at all. And what was it reduced from????
OnlyFoolsnMothers · 14/09/2021 11:19

I’m in SE London, houses going quickly and flat sitting for months- it’s price! I have seen ridiculous prices recently

kirinm · 14/09/2021 11:29

@ElizabethTudor I don't like it either. I know what these buildings look like inside and it is really hard to compare that one to the rest of the area. Not a fan of the hot tub!

Manoverboard2021 · 14/09/2021 11:32

No idea why nobody has yet paid £1.9m for this flat in Dulwich. It looks like the perfect pad for an oligarch's spoilt sixth former!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/89575961#/?channel=RES_BUY

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 14/09/2021 11:34

[quote Manoverboard2021]No idea why nobody has yet paid £1.9m for this flat in Dulwich. It looks like the perfect pad for an oligarch's spoilt sixth former!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/89575961#/?channel=RES_BUY[/quote]
How odd, no pictures of the bedrooms and 3 other bathrooms.