What is the property market like where you live? It's dead here

[OnedayIlflyaway]

Haven't had any viewings for a month. Joint agents, very competitively priced. Have a potential buyer, but they need to sell their own house in North London; they've been on the market for 6 weeks. Agents tell me the market is very strange at the moment, mortgage increases are making potential buyers very nervous. I'm in south Hertfordshire.

@Twiglets1 thank you. I still fear it won't be enough.

I've also told the other beneficiaries that we have to comfortable with our decision if the market miraculously recovers sooner than expected 🤷🏻‍♀️ It's very bad luck but we have few options but to reduce to get a sale.

I understand completely as was in a similar situation

We’re in Bucks. Zoopla values our house £860K, we have had it on the market for three months at £850K, three viewers.
My view is that in a healthy market we’d get £850K, but if we want to sell now, we are going to have to drop to £800K.
Alternative is to take it off the market and wait for things to change, but that is going to be at least 18 months I reckon.

Zoopla values are rubbish, best ignored altogether.
The market will be worse in 18 months not better, the economy in general will be much worse too!
You might have got 850k with 1% rates but they are now 6% which totally changes things. If you want to sell, reduce significantly and negotiate hard on your onward purchase.

It’s sensible to drop by 50k which may be enough to generate more interest

You can keep dropping small percentages (<10%) and may get caught trying to catch a falling knife and not selling until a lot of value has been lost,

OR

You can assume the value is 800K and market it at 10% off, e.g. 720K. If the value is really competitive then you could/should get competing offers bidding the price back up.

The latter approach is best in a falling market, but you could take a risk with the former approach and see how it goes.

We don’t HAVE to move.. but the reasons that make it hard for us to sell should make it possible to get a good deal on the property we buy…

Especially if the consensus is that taking it off the market and waiting for things to get back to where they were before is not going to happen …

'but the reasons that make it hard for us to sell should make it possible to get a good deal on the property we buy…'

That would be my approach if I really wanted to sell within 18 months.

We need to sell this year, really. Already lost one buyer. Been on the market since last November and have now reduced the price by 50k. Still not much interest - estate agent says it's not worth reducing further as the market is dead!

You need to change your EA. Everything sells at the right price.

Exactly what @XVGN said. Market is dead because buyers can't afford the prices! Sellers need to understand how much buyers selling power has been reduced (30% plus often) and how sentiment has plummeted.

Yes it's true that everything sells if you price low enough but also true that the rate changes have put a massive foot on the market brake right now and there are far fewer buyers. I personally think even if you take 50% off right now, which few people are willing to do, it's still going to be sticky and slow in a lot of areas. I think that's what the agents mean. There's almost no price cut that is big enough to tempt atm.

I think there are fewer buyers at the moment & what always happens in a falling market is that the buyers get increasingly picky. The best properties will still sell, they may even have multiple offers.
But the properties with lots of compromises may not sell until they become a bargain for someone.

The question to ask your agent is "If we priced this house at £1, would it sell?" There is a price point between that and your current market price which your house will sell at, your agent just can't be bothered to find out what that price is.

He needs a kick into action or changing.

SE London. Trying to buy - nothing to sell. We have offered on 2 properties - both listed with a range (eg on Rightmove for £500k with 'guide price £500-525k' ).
On the first we offered 5% then 3% below the bottom of the range. Both rejected, although property has been on since Mar at current price range and was also on last year at a higher price. We like it but not enough to overpay more. I suspect the seller has the initial asking price in his or her head and unwilling to reduce more.
The second more realistically priced had 4 viewings in initial viewing weekend. We offered bottom of the asking price range (ie what it was listed for on Rightmove) and still lost out to another buyer.

Not the case in our area. Lots of houses are sitting on the market without much apparent interest. But the few nice homes that come on sensibly priced are still going SSC quickly. As always there is a pool of buyers ready to offer when they see something they want that represents good value. Its just a case of finding that level. If I had to sell at the moment I would price low to try and encourage more interest and hopefully a selection of offers over.

Seller 1 is clearly not very motivated to sell. They are being proud and won’t accept an offer below asking price. It’s not very logical but it’s their prerogative.

Up to you if you like it enough to increase your offer by the 3% probably necessary to secure it.

Property 2 was realistically priced to begin with & the EA was clearly good at using that fact to get a good price for their client during the initial flurry of interest.

Rates have put a foot on the brake because affordability has dropped++
If all the sellers listed at 50% buyers would be bidding like crazy. Of course there are price cuts that would tempt buyers. That's the way a market works (unless it is constantly interfered).

SE coastal town dead here too. Trying to sell property on behalf of family member, just the odd viewer every month.

Sounds like they need to drop their price if viewings have dropped to that extent.

The memo hasn't got through to everyone yet. If you want to/have to sell then set the right price. If you want to get what the top of the market got then put your slippers on and be prepared to wait 10/15/20 years.

I would be prepared to drop the price by a fair bit more - but we need others to be prepared to do similar or we can't afford to buy anything! We had found a property before we lost our last buyers, which is empty as the owner died. 3 people are due to inherit, I wonder if they would be prepared to drop their price by much..

Perhaps chat to their agent. Tell them that you're willing to be negotiable on your price if it will hit theirs and then get a rough idea of whether a deal can be done. You'll never know if you don't ask.

There seem to be lots of potential sellers and estate agents who simply haven't grasped that the market has changed for the foreseeable future and why. It is shocking that estate agents are just shrugging their shoulders and saying 'oh well, the market's dead' instead of doing their job and being proactive in order to sell homes which they have been instructed to sell. I think there will be a lot of people panicking later in the year/ next when the penny finally drops. Sadly for them, the housing market will be even lower/ slower by then.
@paddingtonbear1 , as @XVGN see if you can negotiate a deal with the potential sellers. Presumably the house is still on the market?

I'm at the stage of considering a move. Mortgage is low, would like a bigger house or a better location, looking to go up the ladder. £1m price bracket
But I'm better just waiting. Even cheap houses in SW London cost a huge amount in stamp duty. The days of moving often, and going up the ladder, seem to over. So everyone is hunkering down.