Replying to various points from you and from others.
>Because it’s priced in the same region as other bigger much nicer houses in nicer streets and with better spec?
How familiar are you with the area, OP? We're buying a house on a street that I thought was overpriced, I thought there were far prettier, leafier roads with bigger houses and sort of looked at £ per sq ft. What I didn't know: my future road is far quieter and is a cul-de-sac (so desirable), doesn't have parking on both sides (easier to get your car in), and, unlike the other roads I thought were desirable, doesn't have a bunch of houses that have been turned into flats, which is apparently not desirable. So I thought our street was less desirable, turns out it's not. I didn't have that in-depth local knowledge.
>We saw another house in the same area that was also last sold 6-7 years ago, and has an asking price of 10% more than the last sold price which we thought could be a helpful guide, but that is a new build (so has probably lost some value?) and has had a lot of improvements done including landscaping the garden (which has increased the value) so we’re not sure if the price increase is comparable as the house we are looking at isn’t a new build or had any improvements done.
New builds actually take a long time to lose value, but in the current market, second hand new builds are ten a penny, so they're being forced to drop their prices really low in order to make a sale.
10% above their purchase price after 7 years AND after doing a bunch of work is a really, really low asking price; except to say, people can take their pick of secondhand new builds at the moment (they seem to make up the majority of people who have over-leveraged themselves with expensive mortgages) and therefore do. So secondhand new build sellers are being forced to be brutality realistic about the market, and are pricing low.
Old home owners: not so much. They have character and can afford to wait it out for the right buyer.
>You can't necessarily tell if any changes have been made to the property, without asking the sellers.
I think you said you discussed it with the sellers but I always make a point of looking at online planning/approvals, where I can find: updated electrics, replaced windows and doors, wood burning stoves installed with a FENSA certificate, and so on. That's the 'hidden' value that estate agents don't often put in their marketing.
>There's is a much more buoyant market where I live for mid-range houses, so the typical 3 bed semis in nice areas. They're going like hotcakes and this pushes up their value.
This PP is absolutely spot-on. There's a bunch of people with very large houses downsizing right now, so the competition for your average 3 bed semi is hot.
I think they were right in also saying that far bigger homes aren't selling. You may see larger homes for cheaper than they would usually be because of this. Big home owners are being forced to reduce their prices.
However, it's NOT hot for homes that need a lot of work doing to them. So, if the kitchens and bathrooms are from the 90s and it all looks quite depressing, that's quite unlikely to be flying off the shelf. The ones that are smart and quite modern are going within a week or two. Don't get hooked in by an enthusiastic EA saying 'everyone wants 3 bed semis at the moment, there's a lot of competition in that market' if you can see with your own eyes that the house needs 40k in kitchen and bathroom upgrades. Only in the most desirable of areas are these sorts of homes still selling.
Do you have Property Log to see price drops?