Large house reductions so soon

[Todaytomorrowandyesterday]

I've noticed a few properties have been reduced by large amounts not long after coming onto the market recently.

There was 1 that was listed at the beginning of last week and has just been reduced today by 20k. There was another that I'm sure was only listed mid last week and has just been reduced by 30k this morning.

These aren't large houses, just bog standard 2-3 bed semis under 250k. Obviously it makes sense to reduce the price if the house has been on the market for ages, but a week?

Makes me wonder if they were just trying it on and knew it was over priced to begin with. Seems to be happening more frequently now. Anyone else noticed this?

Most people are led by what the estate agent has told them rather than “trying it on” and I suspect many people are won over by an agent who overtalks the property and says it’s worth every penny of ££££, only for a short while later have the agent say that viewer feedback has been that they’d only want to pay £££, or that the market has suddenly changed and they’d have more interest at £££. If the sellers have already had an offer accepted on something they want to buy, or have seen something they want to be in a position to offer on, they won’t want to wait around becoming stale.

I have noticed this too where we are (Mid/West Wales) Our neighbor put theirs on and within 2 weeks reduced it by £20K. They had no interest/no viewings in 2 weeks so dropped the price straight away. After 2 months they have still had nothing at all, so makes me wonder if its still priced too high or if the buyers just aren't there for our area. We went on the market 2 weeks ago and have had 1 viewing, no offer. When we first went on the market our local Estate Agent's (we had 3) didn't seem to really know what price to put ours on for and in the end we went with their suggestion to 'try it high as you can always bring it down but you can't go back up'. After doing some research of our own, we do appear to be priced alongside comparable properties of the same type/size but my gut feeling tells me we are ALL way overpriced for todays market and our house now seem to be just sitting alongside other properties in the same price bracket that have been on for months and are still there. I would love to drop ours considerably but hubby won't hear of it this soon and wants to stay at this price for at least another 5 weeks.

I know of a property near me that went on at £550K. Every 4 weeks or so the vendor reduced it by £25K until it finally sold at £425K.

It's a falling market...

Obviously it makes little sense.

But you only have to look at some of the listings on here to realise that some owners have little sense either.

Take your pick, you'll have people pricing it 20% above 2021/2022 prices despite doing little to it, pricing above peak prices for their road despite interest rates being 5% higher now, not looking at comparable properties and realising that others offer better value and that is where the buyers are going.

The truth seems hard to admit for some, either they don't do their research, blindly believe the EA even though the EA has priced it too high to get their business, have an over-inflated opinion about their property/ quality of their own interior decorations which is reflected in the price, or are just plain greedy wanting a certain price because some other place got that a couple years ago.

I’m waiting for this in my village. We are rural and the ‘village estate agent’ ie a non chain basically dominates the market here and since Covid has set outrageously high prices for property. It is a ‘naice ’ middle class village, but really there is no reason for it to be so overpriced compared to the surrounding area. we are in the midlands, not at all commutable as poor road networks, not near anything, not on the coast or near lovely AONB, not near any large employer. The main influx has been retired people from the south but the market has gone up and up and up. Properties in 2017 that were £350-400k are now being resold for £800-900k with little work done. It’s absolutely sickening. At the moment there are about 10 larger properties (posh 4 beds or 5 beds) all on for nearly a million. I just can’t see where the people are going to come from to keep propping the market up. But most of the property is being sold by boomers who aren’t really in a rush to sell, so it all is just this self perpetuating cycle that nothing is reduced enough to price prices back down to common sense levels. It’s infuriating.

Yep, noticed this. I think it's the EA. The strategy seems to be, price it really high initially, in case there is a buyer sitting there waiting for this particular property to offer full asking price, which doesn't happen, so they start reducing it.

Because its been reduced, does it show up in rightmove/zoopla searches as 'new', so that buyers keep seeing it pushed at them?

It seems there just aren't many buyers of big houses at the moment - not many big families, and very few who want to take on the big mortgages.

Holidays are starting at the moment and viewers reduce as people concentrate more on holidays than viewing houses.

OTOH, if a house is a bargain then it is going to show significant interest from buyers even at a low time of the year.

TBF most people are going to see a house that will be in their area and price range within a week. And if none of them are interested in viewing then it's an issue. Especially if you need a quick sale.

Lowering the price can also be used to signal that you are ready to deal.

Marketing tactic.

I've noticed prices coming down much faster in 2024, say 1-2 months compared to 2023 when it was often 6 or 9 months before you might see a reduction. Perhaps it is a new tactic or perhaps sellers and agents becoming more realistic.

@Wentie that's really sad for all the families and young people from your area- just boomers selling houses to other boomers which is rather depressing. It's bound to reverse at some point but who knows how quickly!