Flat not selling - is it time to change agents?

[WokingOrNot]

We put our flat on the market 3 weeks ago, but have had only one viewing. We invited 6 agencies for valuations and we got four different prices with a £75k / >15% difference. After shortlisting to two companies we went with a higher (but not the highest) valuation, which now seems to be too high given the lack of interest. But now we're not sure what to do. Clearly we need to drop the price, but the agent has recommended dropping it by 10% due to the apparent complete lack of interest. This would make the asking price the same as the lowest of the 6 valuations we received. We could also opt for a 5% drop instead to test the market.
But the bigger question we'd like help with is: is it time to change agency?
Our thinking is that would mean the property listing gets a fresh start on the portals so it doesn't appear stale, and the other agency may have a more suitable customer base (looking for flats in our area rather than houses, maybe). What would you recommend? How could we check that the new agency is actually better suited? The current agency is good at communicating with us, but the lack of interest is worrying. Do all buyers come from Rightmove and Zoopla, or are they more likely to be registered with a specific agency and found this way?
Talking to both agencies is no help as they'll obviously claim they have lots of buyers and argue their case to keep/get us on their books.

Over 150 years on leasehold.

@WhatAWasteOfOranges

What area of London? We sold our flat in SW London this time last year - it had a communal garden so sold pretty easily and we had quite a number of viewings BUT everyone wanted a bargain. There was a real feeling of buyer power which I haven’t felt when selling before. We sold in the end for an ok price, wasn’t brilliant but we wanted to be in our new area in time for school deadline applications etc. Our agent was KFH and every few days sent a report with how many people had opened the rightmove link/ how many people they had contacted/ how many people they had mailed the property etc - can you ask your agent for these sorts of stats to see how active they’ve been?

North London. We got some stats, but not everything you mentioned so will ask for that. Thanks for a good tip. Yes, we do realise flats are not as desirable as houses but this is truly disappointing as we'd make a significant loss. We've already accepted we'll make some loss. Sadly, no outdoor area.

@SatinHeart

If the price drop is too small it doesn't refresh the Rightmove listing. Check with your agent but 5% might not be enough to send you back to the top of the list, in which case its not worth doing.

I think 5% will refresh it in this case, but sounds like the agent thinks it's not enough due to lack of interest.

My ground floor, purpose built London flat took about 2.5 months and really had very few viewings, maybe 4 or 5 and none at all for the first month.

It made me really anxious and almost embarrassed that it wasn't getting more interest, but at the end of the day, you just need one buyer. I'd be tempted to tough it out a bit longer yet.

Our flat also has very low cost of heating due to great insulation, we had to put heating on for few hours on one day this whole winter, the rest of the time the temperature was 22 degrees with no heating. But I don't know if it's something worth highlighting in the listing and if people will believe us.

@Favourodds

My ground floor, purpose built London flat took about 2.5 months and really had very few viewings, maybe 4 or 5 and none at all for the first month.

It made me really anxious and almost embarrassed that it wasn't getting more interest, but at the end of the day, you just need one buyer. I'd be tempted to tough it out a bit longer yet.

That's helpful. Part of me also thinks we don't have to make rush decisions yet. Did you get a decent offer?

Gah it’s so painful isn’t it. I think North London is hard too because it was expensive to begin with. I do feel like flats are becoming more desirable again now as people come back to London so hoping a refresh with a price drop or some new pictures with a new agent gets you a decent enough price 🤞
Also your agent will be doing a lot of chivvying/chasing/ negotiation with your buyer once under offer so make sure you have an agent you can trust to get it over the line. Getting under offer I found was just the first step (but we had a particularly pain in the arse buyer!)

I'm in a very similar situation - my London flat has been on the market for nearly three weeks, and no offers. I dropped the price by 5% after the first weekend, because it was clear that the EA had over-valued it. That resulted in more viewings, but no offers.

But it's also become obvious that the London flat market is rubbish right now. Most people who wanted to move did so last year - there is no pent-up demand like there was during/after the worst of the pandemic, and no special incentive like the stamp duty holiday. Add in rising interest rates, rising cost of living, NI hikes, etc, etc, and the only properties going fast are very competitively priced, family homes (which are in v short supply) or those with direct access to private gardens.

So I don't think changing EA will make much difference. Everyone goes to Rightmove now anyway - a new EA won't have a secret stash of buyers who aren't on Rightmove. The real calculation - which I'm trying to figure out - is whether it will be even worse trying to move in 1 year or 2 year's time!

@wokingornot Yes, offer was well within the 'what price would we actually accept' tolerance we'd agreed on.

@WhatAWasteOfOranges

Gah it’s so painful isn’t it. I think North London is hard too because it was expensive to begin with. I do feel like flats are becoming more desirable again now as people come back to London so hoping a refresh with a price drop or some new pictures with a new agent gets you a decent enough price 🤞 Also your agent will be doing a lot of chivvying/chasing/ negotiation with your buyer once under offer so make sure you have an agent you can trust to get it over the line. Getting under offer I found was just the first step (but we had a particularly pain in the arse buyer!)

Thank you. That was our hope that people are coming back to London. Yes, part of the reason we chose this agent is that according to reviews they're really good at all the stuff leading to completion

Any of the big chain agents would be fine OP, the issue will be the price. Flats with no gardens are hard to shift at the moment as you have discovered.

It’s a crap market for flats OP, that’s the beginning and end of it. I’m sorry. We have had friends sell an absolute dog of a flat after 1y + on the market, at (slightly) below what they paid 7/8 years ago. So selling, but not on great terms. It’s a very sticky, sludgy market at the moment, imo.

The market for London flats has tanked in the the last three months or so. I’ve just had a two bed flat go under offer in zone two west London. I got nothing with the original agent for 12 weeks as I think they’d overestimated the market. Switched agents and dropped by 5%, then a further 5% and have accepted an offer that is 15% below the original asking price. I just need shot of it.

Agree that London flats are just too expensive for many now especially with interest rates going up and cost of living. Personally I would wait until the autumn of you don’t have to sell now.

My daughter has been looking in Kentish Town for the last few months and when she started looking last summer every flat was selling quickly even tiny overpriced ones. But luckily for her the market is now slightly easier for buyers and she had a below asking price offer accepted on a really nice flat. But the market is getting harder for sellers. And harder still if estate agents want to pretend prices are still where they were last year, when they aren’t.
I sold in London recently and in hindsight the first price we put it on at was unrealistic though it was based on what the estate agent told us. The trouble is they don’t have many properties on their books compared to normal so they will tell vendors anything to get them to commit to their agency over another one.

Thanks again, everyone.
Update: we finally found a seller, didn't have to go down with the price much as the agent suggested. The price we got is good enough. Now we're starting to look for a house for us. Fingers crossed we'll find a good one.