Reduced properties whats happening?

[GoldTurtle]

Is it just me or am I seeing more properties reduced on rightmove. What is going on?

Unrealistic seller/EA's ime. I've noticed an increase lately too in reductions.

I follow the property market closely in our area and have done for about 3 years - we're hoping to move next year. I can pick the ones out that will hang around as soon as they come up. They hang around for ages, get a paltry 5% reduction (which still leaves them overpriced) then a couple more months later a hefty reduction.

I have been following the market in an area we are hoping to move hopefully this year. I can see the properties that definitely have been priced way too high and won't be sold.

From my observation, this has been happening for a long time, since late 2022 but has gradually increased. The reductions have been happening faster since last year and seem to have gained pace this Spring. As the other poster said, a lot of the homes I see being marketed are wildly over priced and then reduced by too small amounts so they still don't sell.
I think this is because the market has been falling in most areas since later in 2022 but sellers and agents still don't seem to have cottoned on. Perhaps they are encouraged by press releases that house prices are rising when the opposite has happened in many areas/for many types of property or perhaps they think buyers will think they are getting a bargain with a 5% reduction and will all rush in. Unfortunately for them, buyers are not being fooled. I think the falls are escalating and will continue to do so as the market falls further.

Yes I keep an eye of right move in my town and there have been so many reductions in prices since Christmas.

Honestly I think a lot of people are in denial - I've also been watching prices and people here are pricing as if the last 5 years of financial and market turmoil never happened, there's still an air of 'but i bought it at x, so if I don't make at least 20k profit it's a loss'

This is the double edged sword of properties being viewed as an investment.

Investments can go down as well as up.

People have always made the assumption that bricks and motar always goes up. It actually doesn't. We could actually be coming into a greater correction cycle as the decreasing prices gain momentum.

When the bottom rung of the ladder, the first time buyers, are priced out the rest of the ladder starts to feel the effects but don't want to acknowledge it.

I keep an eye on an area of SE London where my DS bought a flat last year and there are lots of properties being reduced, but when I look at the REDUCED price it is still similar to what DS paid for a brand new property. When DS bought, we were very clear that this was a home, not an investment and he should not expect any short term growth as they are building more and more flats and of course there is the new flat premium. The alternative was paying an ever increasing rent for decreasing quality.
A lot of the reduced flats I see were bought 5-7 years ago from new when there was Help to Buy which inflated prices. Sellers think their property should have shot up in value since then and frankly they simply haven't. Also some of those flats are still dealing with cladding issues and have ground rent terms that are making lenders nervous. In addition, landlords are not coming into the market to buy 1 or 2 bed flats, in fact many of them are selling. All helps to keep prices down.

Lot of headwinds in the market at the moment. Interest rates. Job uncertainty. Economic uncertainty. The tumbleweed after the rush to make the stamp duty deadline.

Couple all that with the ever increasing regulation scandals on things like fleecehold and cladding it's a wonder the market is maintaining it's current level.

I think decently priced houses and motivated sellers sell.

The house we are buying was on less than a week, owners already moved so stood empty. We where the first viewers, offered 8% under and they accepted immediately. Wasn't even time for a 'for sale' sign to go up.

Next door has been on the market for about 6 months, its smaller but was originally on for much more. They have slowly crept down (4 reduction) to what the asking price was for ours was but they probably don't know we got it 8% under that too (and as said the one we are buying is much bigger).

We sold at the beginning of August for 1% under asking. A couple of weeks later, neighbours with virtually the same house, put it on for £25K more. They reduced it to the same as ours in November. It’s still on the market, with few viewings, I hear.

We had viewings, so were priced right and several people wanted it. Neighbours must be working on the principle that if ours sold for that price, theirs should too, but it’s not working like that.

A house that’s been listed at the same price for nearly six months, is going to be ignored.

The market is very stagnant in my area. First time buyers dealing with high prices, and high interest rates, can’t get on the ladder and then that stifles the whole market.

We’ve reduced ours by £100 k. We really need to move. I think our agent’s original price was unrealistic but they were the professionals so we took their advice.

Lots of other sellers in our area are doing the same because properties in our bracket just aren’t shifting.

Loads up here are overpriced holiday homes , as there’s no new would be holiday home owners in the market and rental becomes more legislatively prohibitive (and profitable) prices are dropping

I've noticed that house prices in our area have dropped a lot since we moved here in 2023. It had been a slow decline but while there was nothing at all for under £300k when we moved, now there is loads on at £250k and under. I think it will continue to drop for at least another couple of months.

Similar story here for one we are selling. We priced to match other (essentially identical) houses on sale in the area. That got no bites.

One house reduced so we watched to see if that moved. It didn’t.

So we dropped by a greater amount than they did. Ours just sold.

The market is resetting, but it doesn’t benefit to sell low if the others are actually selling at the higher prices. You just have to test the market and see where the sweet spot is.

Thankfully, we can absorb the reduction. Moving is the absolute priority. My husband is disabled, is struggling terribly with stairs and we need to get to our flat.

Viewings are picking up so 🤞

Similar story around us (south coast). We are chain free and keen to buy (not FTB-ers) but so many houses are coming on vastly over-priced and then not selling. Sellers (and agents) seem happy to let properties sit on the market for a year rather than reduce them. They are living in a fantasy land, but it’s really frustrating for those of us actively looking.

I think we are a long way from the bottom.

'I think it will continue to drop for at least another couple of months.'

I think the housing market is likely to fall over a much longer period than 2 months. The economic backdrop is very negative. It's been clear for a long time but has become more obvious to the general public and lenders more recently.
Sellers can't just assume that buyers will rise to meet their often inflated expectations anymore, unless they are in an area where incomes have risen, the job market is solid and incomes to asking prices are well matched. If I were selling, I would be pricing below others in the area and being as prompt as possible during the sale. It must be frustrating for people like you @housemoveheadache. I think sentiment is starting to turn, hence more and quicker reductions but it is very slow.

I agree, which is why I would get cracking if I were very keen to sell.

Whilst I wouldn’t want anyone to lose money, I do want the market to fall so my children have the opportunity to move out and start a family.

Looking at family homes near my parents a lot of the ones that have been reduced have been extensively renovated, extended and remodelling e.g. kitchen / back room knocked through to make open plan living space with bifold doors type work. I suspect a lot of folk are trying to recoup the cost of these works and expecting their property to be worth more as a result, or pushing their luck to push through the ceiling price for the street.
At the same time buyers for such properties are struggling with the cost of living, childcare costs, interest rates rises etc.

Same in our area. We are just in process of buying our first home. It was listed at 30k more over 6 months ago and it did sell but their buyers had issues getting a mortgage. Back on the market 6 weeks ago for 20k less the original price then the dropped it again by 10k. We are happy to pay the price but wouldn't have gone for the original price. There are a few sitting i our area for over 2 years no price reduction, they are massively overpriced now.

It's also very stale in our area with not many new homes being listed I assume as people want to 'make money' on their house.

Also don't forget it's getting more and more expensive to run and maintain a larger home, which is putting the squeeze on the larger home brackets.

Coupled with the second home council tax increase and landlords leaving the market in increasing numbers, there will be an increase of smaller more affordable properties on the market over the next few years.

It's pointing towards a perfect storm for the housing market in the UK.

I agree with PP, I think we're a long way from the bottom and it will continue for some time to come.

I’m hoping to go onto the market in mid-May. I have a few small DIY jobs to do.

I know I’ll need to price competitively. Sellers who seem overly optimistic get nowhere. You know which properties are going to stick around for ages as soon as they hit RightMove with a hopeful price attached.

The advantages of my area are low unemployment, good schools, excellent public transport, a teaching hospital nearby, and low crime rates. But it’s a bit bland (1980s estate with a supermarket and a chain pub) so won’t attract “cool” types.