House market - anyone struggling to sell?

[Doingthingsdifferently]

We are in the south east and have we been on the market for ten weeks with what we thought would be an easy house to sell. We had an early offer that fell through and now we are back on with a 5% drop in price. We have had hardly any viewings for six weeks and no further offers - is it the market, are others struggling to sell at the moment?

[DepartureLounge]

Goodness knows why this thread has been resuscitated, but thank god it was or I would never have found out what an integrated wine conditioner was.

[Twiglets1]

@DepartureLounge

Goodness knows why this thread has been resuscitated, but thank god it was or I would never have found out what an integrated wine conditioner was.

Can’t be arsed to read the whole thread again for this nugget so do tell - what is an integrated wine conditioner?

[Twiglets1]

Your EA must not have advised you well @Evenstar for your house to have been on the market since November 22.

We sold in central London late 21 completed early 22 - prices were already falling there when we put it on the market. Our EA was very proactive about getting us to significantly reduce the price every couple of months it didn’t sell. We reduced by 50k and then another 50k. We ended up selling for about 10% less than the original asking price but it sold within a few months in a market that was already very challenging due to the decline in international buyers.

I would consider switching to a new EA if you haven’t already. Your original ones overpriced your property (which is common) but worse than that, they have let it languish on the market all this time rather than give you good advice about lowering the price quickly and sharply to attract interest while it was still relatively new to the market.

[Alexalee]

If your house has been on the market for 20 months then it is either seriously overpriced or has something very off putting about it or its location. Could be either as you have had literally no interest. In most parts of the country prices were still rising at the end of 2022. Where abouts are you? Post a link if you want some constructive advice

[Evenstar]

@Twiglets1 I am currently considering whether to change agents or even possibly rent it out for a few years until things improve. I honestly think it is very well priced now for a four bedroom house in an area where houses have sold quickly even after the crash of 2008.

I think the problem is affordability and many people are choosing not to move because of that, they can’t take advantage of the fall in prices because of the hike in mortgage rates. I think unfortunately larger houses have been disproportionately impacted.

[DepartureLounge]

@Twiglets1

Can’t be arsed to read the whole thread again for this nugget so do tell - what is an integrated wine conditioner?

Haha, it was in the RM listing and appears to be what you and I would call a wine fridge built in to the fitted kitchen. Probably not the house for a recovering alcoholic.

[Alexalee]

@Evenstar I think the problem you have is that you think it's reasonably priced. No one else in 20 months has agreed with you, even enough to make an offer, so I'd say your prices is massively too high unfortunately

[Evenstar]

@Alexalee my house has been on the market for less than 10 months? Do you mean someone else?

[usertaken]

Maybe it was a typo.
You don't say the listing cost but if it is high then £30k is going to a tiny sum in relation to the whole price, therefore why nobody has viewed it.

If listing was up for a few weeks you could argue it was still too early but 10 months without an offer just says something is really wrong.

[Evenstar]

@usertaken that was the third reduction and very recent. The total reduction is well over 10% of the asking price and it really does compare favourably with other properties on Rightmove. Mine offers an extra bedroom and a garage compared to others in the same price bracket.

[Saschka]

@Greenfairydust

It is likely that you might have to drop the price.

Banks have been tightening their lending.

Interest rates going up, council tax going up, high energy bills...people are more cautious and waiting to see what happens.

Agree with this - we can borrow 20% less than we could in 2022. It isn’t what we think a house is worth, or even affordability right now, but what we can actually get a mortgage for. We are looking at 3 bedrooms not 4, and in need of modernisation instead of ready to move into. Other people may not be able to be so flexible with their requirements, so aren’t buying.

If your previous target buyers are in a similar position, you are either going to have to attract people priced out of a higher price bracket (who might have higher expectations in terms of finish etc), or you drop your price.

[CrashyTime]

@Evenstar

@usertaken that was the third reduction and very recent. The total reduction is well over 10% of the asking price and it really does compare favourably with other properties on Rightmove. Mine offers an extra bedroom and a garage compared to others in the same price bracket.

Unfortunately 10% isn`t considered a "big" reduction now, hope you manage to sell soon.

[rainingsnoring]

@Evenstar

@Twiglets1 I am currently considering whether to change agents or even possibly rent it out for a few years until things improve. I honestly think it is very well priced now for a four bedroom house in an area where houses have sold quickly even after the crash of 2008.

I think the problem is affordability and many people are choosing not to move because of that, they can’t take advantage of the fall in prices because of the hike in mortgage rates. I think unfortunately larger houses have been disproportionately impacted.

If it is 'very well priced' then it will sell very quickly.
If not, it won't sell as you have already seen.

Of course the problem is that affordability has been squeezed which is exactly why prices are falling. They can be expected to fall further, probably a lot further.
Hopefully it will sell quickly with your latest reduction.

[rainingsnoring]

@roarrfeckingroar

Yeah exactly. Sold my 2 bed flat for £525,000 (valued at £650,000 before) but traded up for four bed family home at £615,000 that I would've expected to pay £750,000 for last year.

This sounds like a good result for you!

[lljkk]

@Doingthingsdifferently

Was a bit surprised to see this in my notifications but if you would like an update - we completed in early July - thanks to the posters sending good wishes on the sale.

What did you sell for in the end?