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 also think fewer viewers are looking at places to 'do up' unless they are very cheap indeed- simply because of the cost of doing up or extending - so a quick £30k loft conversion can now cost £60k etc and have to wait to get someone to do it too - many simply can't get mortgages high enough on current rates ( and salary's) to be able to move too -

That's v true @BlackShuck3. Often sellers who want to upsize are waiting for others to reduce too! Depending on the seller, some reductions are definitely happening, just slowly. I'm not surprised that many sellers want to hold out, thinking they will achieve a high price. What I am more surprised about is the estate agents who are simply harming their own businesses and putting themselves at risk.

I'm not sure about how to explain the EA behaviour, except that (very generally speaking) it's in thier interests to keep house prices high?

It really isn't. Their commission on an extra 10K is nothing. They need a high volume of completed sales at any price

Can I join in - been listed a month ish- have had quite a few viewings now maybe 30 + one offer which was just above asking price which we accepted but they lost their job so returned to square one.

Probably having about 3 viewings a week, had quite a lot of people say they love the house and want to make an offer but they aren't under offer themselves.

That said my house is pretty much like marmite you like it or you don't (and according to MN several people hate it)

I was quite despondent after we had another "we to make an offer desperately but we aren't under offer yet" comment - I posted it on here to get feedback. And actually a lot of posters confirmed that a) I have love/hate decor/layout - I blame working in Brighton for this. b) several things that would be easy changes that I hadn't even realised!! I found the feedback really useful even though some of the comments were pretty much I hate it lol if you're not afraid to post a link I would recommend it.

We are quite lucky in regards we have priced reasonably and we aren't in a rush to sell.

Estate agents when we have been viewing have all said it's been pretty dead locally due to summer holidays so we should be grateful we have had so much interest . But I suppose since we aren't SSTC yet all these viewings means very little.

I have to ask do people really only view houses with no intention to actually move but just for a day out ? My friend said she does this because she's nosy and I was just floored that people would do this just because ?! Is this a thing ?!

@housemovepickle my grandparents used to do this regularly I'm sorry to say.

Help me understand because maybe I'm weird but I hate house viewing at best of time ? Did they ever explain why ? 😭😭 I was hoping my pal was a one off !

I just can't understand it tbh

Agree with @XVGN that they earn far more from large numbers. However, I think that they benefit from a rising market in several ways, in a psychological sense as well as financial.

@housemovepickle if you are getting lots of viewings, it seems likely that you will have more offers soon. Lots of people obviously do like your house. Do you think FTB properties are not selling well near you in general or have you just been a bit unlucky? I'm sure some people are just nosy and have too much time on their hands, yes!

@housemovepickle I think some people view it as 'entertainment'
Sadly -something to do- it's free and they are nosey-usually it's something they 'might' be interested in 'at some point' - so it's a type of house or an area etc

My grandparents used to go viewing bungalows - they were thinking of moving down to one in a year or two and strictly speaking did have the house equity to do so- they just were not looking seriously 'at that moment'

I think some people are like this about dating too- they aren't really serious 'at that point' but like to keep looking around !

@rainingsnoring I suspect it's people aren't being realistic with their own property prices so jamming things up.

Sadly I don't know how many FTB could afford our house tbh, it's 3 bed seaside property in a fairly good area. I got it by the skin of my teeth and it was because the house was is such bad repair.

Houses are slowly trickling as sold but many are selling really really cheap or in roads which are a bit rubbish.

Fingers crossed tbh if it's someone who's serious and won't fuck around I'm happy to go with them if it goes to bidding war.
God knows how I can tell that from offers etc

I thought viewers generally had to be ‘proceedable’ in other words have an offer on their house ? Most estate agents won’t agree to viewings otherwise.

That’s true in a sellers market but in a buyers market EA will be more open to people viewing even if they aren’t in an immediate position to proceed.

Personally I wouldn’t allow viewings from people whose own property wasn’t even on the market. Too much opportunity for time wasters in my opinion. If someone thinks my house could be the one for them they can view it after putting their own property on the market not before.

@Nosummerontheagenda buyers market. I have said to my EA no viewings for people who's house isn't on the market.

I think it's catch 22 people won't consider dropping the price on their house if there isn't a incentive to do so (aka a house they love that they fear missing out on)

The market dictates a lot of- price and what sellers should accept. That said and I have been viewing since we have had so many viewers - the quality of stock on the market is pretty crap tbh.

Generally understandable but it doesn't allow for FTB's or people buying additional homes. How would you screen for those?

FTBs would be welcome to view and other people who don’t need to sell a property first in order to buy one.

But for people needing to sell a property, I would ask the EA to screen out anyone who had yet to put their own place on the market.

This is famously a dead time for listing due to summer holidays.

Peak time is spring with the 2nd and 3rd wind in September and January.

It sucks because we a looking for houses and theres nothing on the market at the moment.

UK Property Market Stats Show

It's a lower time for listing but nowhere near dead. Ignoring the Covid year there are more listings this week than in any of the last 6 years. And the cumulative listings are piling up. Sale agreeds are also increasing so it's an interesting time. Properties priced well should get a bid.

In my area I see properties go up for sale and fairly quickly go sstc, only to be back on the market (with a slight price reduction) a little while later.
I presume this is because the buyer who offered found that the bank wouldn't lend them the amount that they needed. The sale then fell through because the vendor wasn't willing to reduce the price in line with the valuation given by the lenders bank.

@BlackShuck3 I'm seeing this a lot too. In the area I'm looking there are loads of 2 up 2 down, ex buy to let properties for sale. When you look at land registry prices for the last year, they have all sold for £150-180k, yet they keep being listed for £200-200k. Everything larger is on for £300k+ and not selling. And again, on the land registry nothing has sold above £375k in the last year. Yet every seller seems to think their average house is the one to break the ceiling price.

I do think there are a lot of sellers who have only ever bought in a rising market so 1. Take their valuation as gospel and start shopping with that price in mind, not leaving any wiggle room in their budget, 2. Don't feel comfortable with negotiating because they've always been in a best and final situation.

@BraveToaster
ex buy to let properties for sale
are some of them maybe landlords who've decided to sell up and need to get as much as they can to cover the capital gains tax that is due (or something like that)?

A biggish house in this town I walk past quite often has been on the market now 3 times in the last 2 years- once didn't sell at all, second time sign up as sold but sale seemed to fall through as same cars still there, now up for sale again.
Frankly, I think the price is unrealistic, but for all I know they may have their eye on a specific house to buy and not want to accept less.
Doesn't need work on it, modernised in boring neutral colours, so it's not the usual things putting off buyers (weirdly decorated or a doer-upper).

Certainly it seems to be the more expensive ones round here that are 'sticking'. Especially those that need work- including one or two where people seem to have started to do them up and given up for whatever reason. On one of those, the price has gone down a hell of a lot, by well into three figures, but there it still is. A truly lovely house, but half done, and what has been done not well done, unfortunately. I'd feel the need to start again if I got it, and redo all the work from scratch. I think someone may have bitten off more than they could chew, or their circumstances changed in some way- so sad when that happens.

I agree- many, probably most, sellers being unrealistic with their pricing.
It's interesting that you say things are selling really, really cheap. I think it's just a symptom of a slowly falling market which people have not yet come to terms with. In fairness, the MSM keeps issuing positive news about house prices rising but that's not what many people observe 'on the ground'.

@BlackShuck3 and @BraveToaster I follow more higher end in a few areas and very few are going STC quickly. Those that do are beautifully done up and in great condition. Most are being reduced, often several times or being taken off the market. The reductions in 2024 are definitely happening faster than they were in 2023. The number of houses on the market and total numbers of reductions have gone up massively.

This is really true @BraveToaster 'Yet every seller seems to think their average house is the one to break the ceiling price'. They can see comparable prices of recent sales and still decide to market 20% higher a year later. Delusional!

I know this area well. Much more reasonable than Bristol itself. Although that seems like loads he's seeing per day there's much fewer pickings where we are

Since changing agent we've had 3 viewings this week alone! Sometimes worth jumping ship!