Is the market dead everywhere?

[Lemurabbit]

My house has been on the market for 4 months with not that many viewings (although they all gave good feedback) and I’ve been watching lots of other local similar properties which also aren’t selling. Also all the onward purchase options don’t seem to be selling either. It’s getting so frustrating as I don’t know what else we can do but wait. Reduced the price a month ago and now it’s the cheapest 4 bed in the area, no work needed (everything done in the last 1-2 years) - all other local 4 beds for similar price or cheaper need work or don’t have parking.

Agent says not much is selling. I’m feeling a bit desperate!

It really is area dependent.

BIL has been trying to sell his house for three months. Our neighbours accepted an over asking price offer the day they went to market.

Last year we put ours on the market at this time of year. It sold in less than a week for 1% under asking. Neighbours two doors down, but theirs on a few weeks later and it’s still for sale, having been reduced several times.

I imagine holidays at this time of year don’t help, but looking at RM where we used to be, very little is moving. Our house is a new build, they’re all built, but not all moved into. People want them, but can’t sell their properties. It really seems to be stagnant.

It's very stagnant in many areas. I'm thinking of moving too, and a few months ago properties were flying off Rightmove, but nowadays many of them are being reduced or taken off the market. Maybe things will liven up in September.

No area dependant, I sold on the first day for over an already good asking price and that was around 3 months ago.

Was talking to a friend this morning. She’s sold in three weeks , for an acceptable price.

However, other house prices seem to be falling.

It’s a buyers market.

Yes, pretty much. I work in a law firm and they’re reviewing staff in the property team as they see this going in for a long time.

Summer holidays are never a great time to sell, it all slows down. Also, after the April stamp duty deadline everything slowed a lot. In the past I've always put houses on the market in May but this year felt like I really just wanted to crack on so did it in Jan. So glad we did as I reckon it would still be on the market if I had waited.

You can either take it off the market and try again later in the year. Drop the price more but if its a reasonable price anyway you might not want to or be able to afford that. Or do something to it to add something other 4 beds don't have, sell a bit of a lifestyle e.g see if you can source a cheap 2nd hand hot tub or conservatory. Or create a cinema room / games room for kids etc.

Very stagnant in my local area and prices easily dropped 10% noticeably lot more detached 3-4beds just sitting on the market which two years ago were rare & snapped up fast. I’m assuming people can’t afford them and the back to office drive has impacted as we are in SW. We had a huge influx around covid when those in the SE moved out as they could work from home and prices jumped.

TLDR: Stagnant here.

9 out of the 12 properties closest to us are for sale and all have been on the market for over a year. One of the other 3 was sold in that time. Of those 12, 6 are new build (2 different locations), and they are not selling any better. But all are within £100k of each other, 4 beds, different ages, styles. We are in a village with no amenities except a pub (the shop is one of the for-sales including a house, no school, no buses/trains). There are another 3 houses being built within sight, at 100K more. Can't see those selling either.

7 miles away is a small town where they are building hundreds of new houses and these are selling while established 'ever popular' houses are not.

Random observation: 5 of my FB friends in the area have recently posted that their 20-23 year old kids have bought new builds. They are not keeping the market moving as nothing to sell.

We want to sell, and if market was buoyant we'd get our finger out to get it up for sale but instead we're going to have to linger, get stuff done, and keep commuting to new jobs... I don't see much point until there is more movement here.

Round our way, “under offer” signs are going up within a week of houses being on the market.

A friend just sold in a weekend. Her buyer lost their buyer, and they resold (at a better price) in 2 days. Not much around, and what sticks around is priced unrealistically. (In the south, expensive market town)

A friend just sold in a weekend. Her buyer lost their buyer, and they resold (at a better price) in 2 days. Not much around, and what sticks around is priced unrealistically. (In the south, expensive market town)

We’ve already got so many extras we can’t add anything else. We put it up for a price below all three agents valuations and have then reduced again, there is another similar property on the next road for 425k without the extras - ours is now 290k (4 bed detached with 4x parking, garden, village location). We are looking at onward purchase around 500-600k and the market for those properties seems even slower so hoping we can have an offer accepted once ours sells, but at this point it feels like it just won’t sell.

Houses that are priced right are going on the market and sold the same day here eg a four bed at £450 -£500K. New builds 4 bed at £965K not selling (not surprisingly!)

Flying off here, with big increases but that's mostly school catchment related. No idea in the wider local area.

Something to always remember in hot vs cold/lukewarm markets.
In a hot market, even properties that aren't quite right (bit far from school/no good schools nearby/near or on a main road/too far from the train) or a bit quirky (why does that room go there? Why have they done that?) will sell.
In a cooler market these ones will stick around. We are in a cooler market right now down to various factors. I have no idea what your place is like but a good lick of paint works wonders, as does keeping rooms as uncluttered and neat as possible.

Its partly the time of year, summer holidays are always quiet for property. But yes its been slow in our town for the last year, prices are still high but the houses aren't selling!

At the right price for the area the property will sell.

It sounds like yours is priced competitively, but only by posting the dreaded link will you probably get the feedback that tells you the reality.

Prepare for your place to be put through the meat grinder though. It's a brave move.

Edit : I don't think in all the time I have been on here I have seen a link with "why is my house not selling" where the house was clearly underpriced.

Friend recently got an offer same day she went on the market and 20 miles away my cousin’s neighbour got an offer the same day on her flat. Some do stick but overall it has speeded up a bit recently.

Truth is markets go DOWN as well as up... if you are all priced similar and non are selling you are simply all over priced.

Doesn't matter if stuff sold for more in the past (in a different market) and it doesn't matter what other houses that aren't selling are asking... they aren't selling because your market has dipped and you haven't adjusted your prices to match.

People are still asking too much. Agents are still over valuing. Price it right and it will sell.

yes, slow in lots of areas in London.

It's a fair market here.

Quality sells, the dross doesn't.

I'm in Essex and sold in May within 4 weeks, but reduced the price on the 3rd week. Looking up and down the nearby roads it's all sold signs and not many for sale signs.

We made an offer £30k over for a house we viewed on it's open day. (The "offers over" figure was unrealistically low to entice interest though.) The next day they responded that they'd had an offer £20k over that but would prefer to go with us as we could move faster. We upped our offer by £10k and it was off the market as of then.

Since then three people locally have told us they wanted it before we "snapped it up" although if they were genuine, they'd have put an offer in
They probably think we paid the offers over price.

The semi detached one opposite us, newer build, smaller, posher kitchen, unsold for 4mths now. Sweet little thatched place a bit further down, unsold for 3 months. Both priced the same as what we paid for ours, which is much bigger, much nicer, detached, big country garden with orchard, the no-brainer out of the three.

It's all about price.