Are houses slow selling at the moment?

[Nextdoor55]

We've got our house on the market & we're finding that it is very slow, no viewings at all - went on market about a month.
We live in the sticks & our property is very particular I think with another house attached to it but I'm wondering, are sales slow at the moment?
Anyone else?

I wouldn't post the link. You'll get lots of noisy feedback and you'd need to be thick-skinned to stomach some of it.

If you want to go ahead then start a new thread so as not to derail this one.

My son is looking in North of Bristol/Gloucester area and up to 250k. Sensibly priced homes of that level seem to be flying but....I'm not sure that many are actually coming onto the market. He sees about 10 maximum a day listed on his searches and his area covers quite a population. That doesn't feel like many to me and that will affect the supply and demand situation.

Yes the market is slow and stagnant in most areas. However, if you have had very few viewings and no offers and have been on the market for more than a couple of months, the most likely reason is that your house is overpriced for the current market. The solution to getting more interest is normally to reduce the price.

It's brave of you to offer to link the property (and it could be useful) but you will get some silly responses as well as sensible ones if you do. Maybe start a new thread to do so if you are feeling up to getting a wide range of opinions on your house but be prepared for the fact that when people do this, they often get a lot of negative stuff being said about their property which can be hard to take.

Hi, how long have you been on the market for? We are currently trying to sell (3 bed, grade 2 listed end terraced cottage) in Mid Wales, also semi rural. We have been on 3 weeks with very little interest and just 2 viewings and no offers. I know its early days for us but I am also already wondering whether we have just gone on the market too high. Looking at other properties on the market similar to ours, some are cheaper, some are about the same in price and others are slightly more than ours. None of us are selling! Some have been on since last year, others earlier this year and others, like ourselves, more recently. So I am wondering the same as you. Is it the market, are we overpriced or is it a combination of both?

@Farting CPI inflation has fallen a lot but service inflation is still very high and many people, but not all, have a much higher rate of inflation than the CPI levels due to mortgage/ rent rises. I suspect that inflation will start to rise again before long, especially once QE (or QE under another name) starts up again, as I think is pretty much inevitable.
I definitely don't shop in Waitrose as I have lots of mouths to feed! You need to switch!

@iloveyoubutilovememore I think your OH is correct. If you aren't even getting viewings, it's extremely likely to be the price. Try reducing 5-10% depending on what is selling locally (if anything!).
You could start another thread with a link but some of the comments tend to be overly critical.

The thing is, if we reduce by 10% that brings it down to £216,000 (we purchased it four years ago for 197,000) and also means we wouldn't be able to buy the house we are hoping to buy. Maybe we should start by bringing down to 230,000? But again not sure because what if we then need to reduce again!

@Sniffywhippymum ours went on the market 30th May so nearly two months. We've had maybe half a dozen viewings and no offers. The reason I'm questioning it is because a few have sold locally but there is still so many properties for sale in the area. There was one down the road which needed renovating although slightly bigger than ours and went for 230,000. Ours is well looked after with garden office and new bathroom yet barely any interest at all! We do live on a busy road though :/ not sure about you but I'm really not keen on it just sitting on rightmove for months on end. I know from a buyers point of view that often the ones sat on there get overlooked as 'not good enough'.

I viewed a house earlier today which is on with a different EA in the area. Spoke to her and picked her brains about ours not getting any interest and she (surprise surprise) said it's not being marketed properly. Is it worth us letting them come over for a second opinion? OR do we just cut our losses and bring the price down to 230,000?! Wahhh

@iloveyoubutilovememore I would try reducing it by about 5% rather than going straight to 10% which would be a big reduction.

I feel your pain. Its so hard to know what to do. What is it currently on the market for? I think the fact you still have had some viewings at least shows that people have wanted to see it. I think I would be more concerned if you hadn't had any at all. What feedback are you getting from the agent from these viewings as to the reason they are not wishing to proceed further or to a 2nd viewing? The people viewing will hopefully be able to provide some answers. I have just asked our agent for some feedback from our viewing at the weekend. I get what you mean though about not wanting it to sit on Rightmove for months on end. We have toyed with the idea of taking it off the market in October for a couple of months and then putting it back on in the New Year. Just to have a break, and also to refresh the listing. But we will see how we go and how much more interest we get in the meantime. Ours may well need a price reduction too. Its tough because we don't want to overreact and reduce it too early but at the same time we want to sell!!

@Sniffywhippymum completely agree with you, it's bloody frustrating and I genuinely thought ours would sell quickly so it's come as a shock! But apparently thats what all sellers think. Ours is on for 240,000 we are in Norfolk in a semi-rural village close to the coast and to Norwich. What about yours? And why do you want to move? Ours is for more space, we have two young boys plus a dog and cat and it is sooooo cramped. I like the idea about potentially taking it off in Oct then relisting I think thats a good call.

Feedback is generally that they don't like it being on a busy road, small third bedroom and one even said 'I know the owners who had it before the current sellers and she told me that the neighbours are loud when the footballs on' my god...

Its very frustrating! We have a nice home and I am very proud of house. Its nicely presented, fairly modern interior but keeping with the age of the house and with plenty of character. 3 double sized bedrooms, nice garden with views, outbuildings etc. Someone can move right in and not have to do a thing. I was hoping that it would be attractive to buyers and would sell quite quickly. I think I was a little naive to think it would fly off the market when property here is selling very slowly. We are in Mid West Wales, semi rural and barely anything is shifting here. We are on for £299,995 but I think our agent has given us poor advice and I think we may be overpriced. I will be happy to reduce at some point if nothing happens soon and just play it by ear. We don't HAVE to sell and move we WANT to sell and move. Our youngest daughter is off to Uni in September and my husband and I have always dreamed of living near the sea. So we thought we would give it a try and see what happens. We will sell eventually as we know we have a lovely house but we just need to find that buyer who loves it as much as we do. And we need to be prepared that we might not get as much as we would like for it, but for me, as long as we can afford something similar going forwards, we will be okay.

Mother's bungalow been on market 2 months. 3 viewings only. Just reduced price in the hope of getting an offer.

check out rightmove and make your mind up (so you can take your area into account too essentially)

We put our house on the market on a Friday at the beginning of July, four viewings over the weekend, first offer on the Monday. Asking price offer the following Monday, accepted an above asking price offer that Tuesday. So I’d say not slow in my area of London.

The house we are moving to in a commuter town is bigger but with less character and had been on five months before our offer was accepted following them dropping the price significantly. So highly area dependent is my limited experience.

Right we're on course with new agent, new photos, complete refresh. Fingers crossed

@Nextdoor55 Good luck, I hope you get a buyer soon.

Nope, it’s my one luxury. I’m not switching, but I have put my prices up.

And I'm not an easy beast to replace. Old and grey though I am.

So theres that.

good luck!

'The thing is, if we reduce by 10% that brings it down to £216,000 (we purchased it four years ago for 197,000) and also means we wouldn't be able to buy the house we are hoping to buy. Maybe we should start by bringing down to 230,000? But again not sure because what if we then need to reduce again!'

Have prices risen so much in your area in 4 years and not come down? They have in some areas but I think they have fallen back more in others.
You could try a 5% reduction. I think less than that is unlikely to stimulate interest as buyers could already bid 5-10% under asking if they wanted to do so. A reduction does signal to potential buyers that you are interested in selling. Perhaps you can negotiate a certain percentage off what you buy next.

The housing market is dead as a dodo at the moment. We have a lovely home on the market, I know we are biased but honestly it is in turn key condition and have only had 3 viewings in 6 months, even reduced the price by 75k and nothing. We know it is priced well and is really good value so not prepared to cut it again. The facts are until rates come down,,people can’t afford to move. We even had 3 agents last week finally one clean and admit this and that there is no market at the moment. We were advised to sit tight., frustrating but all we can do.

Maybe post a link to it here! Might drum Up some interest.

75k sounds like a lot but it depends on what percentage of the asking price that represents.

When we sold my Dads flat a couple of years ago the market was already bad in central London. Our (very good) EA advised us that there was no point cutting the price by less than 5%.

We cut by 5% and a couple of months later by another 5% and then we got 2 offers. Of course if you’re in no hurry to sell then you may be prepared to wait it out but 3 viewings in 6 months does suggest that buyers are feeling it is overpriced.

It is always the price

property you want to move to also comes down. however you may have to accept to stay there for the medium to long term if you are unwilling to accept the price x

What percentage reduction is 75k? It makes a huge difference whether you are trying to market at 3 million or 200k as to whether the reduction was significant or not.
The thing is, if you aren't even getting viewings, it is extremely likely, nearly certain, as you say the house is in great condition, that it is very over priced for your current market. The market price is what the highest proceedable buyer is prepared to pay now, not what a seller wants. So many estate agents are over valuing by a large amount at present and then having to reduce, often several times to sell, or failing to sell at all. Instead of realising their mistake, they seem to persist in doing the same thing and then not having many sales, which must impact their business very badly. The market is only 'dead' because of this. It would develop some life if sellers (in some areas) marketed at more realistic values that buyers can and are prepared to pay.
If you don't want to reduce more, you may just need to accept that you stay where you are.

The market is only 'dead' because of this. It would develop some life if sellers (in some areas) marketed at more realistic values that buyers can and are prepared to pay
@rainingsnoring I agree with you. But surely sellers will only lower their prices if their onward purchase is reduced by a similar percentage?
With everyone holding out for what they want there seems to be no way for the stagnation to end 🤷🏼‍♀️