The property isn't worth what they're asking for it

[Mousefoot]

Surely?

It's a 3 bed bungalow, very much at a premium in this area.

They're asking £550K. My large 4 bed detached house, just up the road, is worth about £500k, but I shall have to get over that because of the bungalow thing.

However, they paid £505k for it in July 2023 and don't appear to have done anything to it except neglect the garden since.

The market has fallen a little since then, IMO. So I think it's worth about £480k, but there's not a chance there'll accept that, is there?

Rarity value.

If it was £70k over what I thought it was worth and I wanted to sell, yes. Why would they think it's worth £45k more than it was a year ago, in a falling market?

but it obvs isn't over what they think its worth or they wouldn't have priced it there......

You're assuming they are expecting to get the asking price which they probably aren't.

Say they wanted to get 505k, the amount they paid. They would be advised to list it for more than that as buyers expect to haggle.

We looked at several types of houses all around £300K 10 years ago.

Some are worth £350,000 others £375,000 ours a bungalow 4 bed is worth £425,000 - things change!

Bungalows aren’t just for the elderly.

We love ours and aren’t moving so it makes no difference to us.

Bungalows have risen in price in a lot of areas mainly because not many are being built now mostly owing to the size of plot required. Make an offer if you want to but I doubt they would accept that much below the asking price. But you never can be sure.

Very little chance they will accept 70k off their asking price if it has only just been listed. There's lots of 'aspirational pricing ' going on at the moment, aided by Nationwide, Rightmove etc telling people that prices have risen a bit when they have actually fallen a bit in most areas.

A three bed bungalow in my street went for 25% more than a four bed house that sold in the same month late last year. Both with similar size gardens and in need of similar levels of renovation, and the four bed also had a dedicated downstairs office space so would be considered by some to actually have five bedrooms. Bungalows seem to be at a premium because they are attractive to older people have cash to throw at the when they downsize. Bigger houses tend to be bought by younger people who need mortgages and are affected by interest rates.

Because they are greedy, like a lot of people.

They will lower the price if they get no interest.

But I would make an offer anyway.

It’s very difficult to find a new build bungalow. They do take up a lot of land for less accommodation so land costs affect prices. Therefore a decent enough one will be attractive to many. Younger people are buying them for the plots.

Near me there’s a few bungalows being built. 2 bed and start at £700,000. Go up to £900,000 for 3 bed in a better plot. They are on an estate in a village with no shop.

Supply and demand. Town where I grew up, you'd pay the same for a detached bungalow as you would for a detached house with the same no. of bedrooms.

The bungalows tend to be on decent sized plots. New build detached houses tend to be squeezed into plots.

Thing is what the place is "worth" and what the vendors would accept are two entirely different, potentially unrelated sums of money.

Also you may have a really good opportunity for a second storey extension, and as said a bungalow tends to have a fairly large footprint. We actually have done this much bigger now and added a lot to value.

Supply and demand. There are an awful lot of people who would like a bungalow. Not sure about anywhere else in the country but in our ever expanding small town, of the 5 new build developments of over 300 houses on each one, not a single bungalow has been built. We have an aging population for whom bungalows are attractive to. We also have a growing population of people who are or have looked after incredibly frail relatives who have stayed too long in unsuitable housing and really should have downsized into something more suitable 10 or 20 yrs ago but didn't and have themselves sworn to downsize before it gets too much. Bungalows are generally safer and in some cases the only option for some people with certain mobility problems. An increasing number of families want to buy them too. The current trending alternative of "over 55's residential living" has an awful reputation for being rip off merchants, hard to sell, huge service fees ect. So many people are giving those a wide berth. Hence the driving up price of bungalows.

A 2 bed bungalow a couple of streets away went for £650,000 last October after 3 days on the market, an overlooked, squashed in 3 bed semi with parking for 1 small car on the new build estate down the road is £475,000.

Bungalows where I am are very desirable.

Most houses around here are semis (or terraced).

If you want detached, the only options are a bungalow, or £1m+ plus for very large Victorian villas.

The bungalows are all on much bigger plots, have a lot of privacy, and as a pp said, complete flexibility of how you use the rooms.

My kids are still young, but a friend with teens has recently bought a dormer bungalow and it is fantastic. Upstairs has a bedroom each for them, plus a bathroom, plus a box room which they use as a "gaming room".

Friend and her husband have a huge bedroom with en suite on ground floor - complete privacy for everybody.

Bungalows are at a premium around here too. Not many of them and a large older population. People can and do hold out for a price they will sell for. I watched fascinated as the house we used to live next door to sat on the market for months but it's just been sold to someone moving in from a more expensive area who has relatives nearby. Prices are arbitrary and it's all down to what someone is willing to pay despite what anyone may or may not have done in terms of what they consider to be improvements. If However you want or need to sell relatively fast you will price accordingly to get a buyer as quickly as possible.

They are often bought by young families now who add an upper floor.That is why they've become desirable.

The seller is trying to recoup their costs to move on, so the price is based on their needs rather than the current market. But as others have said, a house is worth whatever a buyer is prepared to pay and a seller is willing to accept. It seems unlikely that this seller would consider £80k under asking, but it's always worth a try!