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Original poster

Houses Coming Back on The Market

34 replies

Paintonmyshoe · 08/09/2025 18:42

Yes this, has anyone noticed a trend lately in houses popping back up in the market after being stc? Two houses I’d looked at were on the market for a couple of weeks, sold then popped back up around a month later.

OP posts:
Newsenmum · 08/09/2025 18:57

Not unusual. Cost of living is high and people overestimate what they can afford.

Original poster
Paintonmyshoe · 08/09/2025 19:30

To add more context…we got into a best and final offers for my dream house and lost it. People who got it must have offered silly money. So basically hoping it returns to the market as we’ve had two offers on ours and now have nowhere else we’re interested in at the moment.

OP posts:
DrySherry · 08/09/2025 20:28

It happens frequently in a healthy market and seems to be more so in the current climate. There are obviously a raft of reasons. I can't remember the exact statistics but from listing to completion it's something like 60% success. So 40% either fail and relist or withdraw.

Lovelynames123 · 08/09/2025 20:33

Definitely noticed it when I was looking, in fact the house I bought had been on the market, disappeared, then reappeared at a reduced price, and I bought it, although the agent denied it had been previously listed, bizarrely!

A relative has had their sale fall through 3 times now, soul destroying, and it's not overpriced

Doris86 · 08/09/2025 21:22

Apparently on average one in three house sales fall through, so it’s very common.

We were buying last year so kept a close eye on Rightmove. We saw loads of houses going SSTC and then coming back on the market, often 2 or 3 times as well.

Original poster
Paintonmyshoe · 09/09/2025 09:45

Thanks for the replies. Makes me feel a bit more hopeful but at the same time don’t want to hope it falls apart for someone else as wouldn’t want that to happen to me.
I live in the Midlands btw.

OP posts:
GasPanic · 09/09/2025 10:36

The current market is not in a good state. In general I think volumes are still very thin and sellers are still holding out for too high prices. So an impasse basically.

Houses fall through for all sorts of reasons, but one maybe more frequent possibility in the current environment is overvaluing, where the mortgage holder will not agree to fund a house purchase because it is not worth what the purchases have offered.

Plus there is some uncertainty about where taxes will go in the budget which is making people hold off.

Your micro market is not indicative of the whole country though.

Namechange13101 · 09/09/2025 11:16

Yup same here, we’re in three counties and loads have come back up in the last week or so ours included as our chain collapsed! Our agents said how common this is but doesn’t make you feel any better when it’s you sale falling through!

Lyocell · 09/09/2025 11:21

according to our local estate agent, about half of all sales are currently falling through. Our chain has collapsed 3 times. It’s not our houses fault, but the situation is just absolutely silly at the moment. We have tried our best to do due diligence before accepting offers but we get told one thing and then 2 weeks later it’s a different story, people aren’t proceedable etc. it’s not even our estate agent, it’s often the estate agent of people 2-3 below that has said one thing and changed their story. Then others anre gazundering, pulling out after surveys as they spooked (often when they haven’t done their own research or used their brains before putting an offer in). It’s like herding cats trying to get it over the finish line and I am actually about to have a breakdown. I cried last night after yet another email from our estate agent with problems in the chain.

TheRavagesOfThyme · 09/09/2025 11:25

We completed on our house sale recently. Hallelujah. It had been 16 months of unremitting stress. Our property returned to the market 3 times! We're now in rented as we lost the house we wanted, but an amazing place, that was out of our reach, has just dropped it's asking price by 10%, making it affordable. Viewing on Friday!!

Original poster
Paintonmyshoe · 09/09/2025 12:31

@Lyocell It’s horrific isn’t it - I remember it well from last time we moved. I looked like that painting The Scream walking around. Fingers crossed everything falls in to place for you.

@TheRavagesOfThyme Good to read that even though you lost first property you have now found something else you like 🙂Shows it can happen. Good luck with your viewing Friday! 👍

Yes the house we wanted was very dated to. Kitchen was the original from the 70’s but I didn’t care. Means you can put your own stamp on it. There were quirky things about the house I loved most people wouldn’t care about. Oh well 😄
😭

OP posts:
Papricat · 09/09/2025 15:50

Zombie properties.

yummyscummymummy01 · 09/09/2025 15:58

I suspect that a lot are initially overvalued as so many seem to then drop in value by which time people begin to worry there might be something wrong with it. I don’t understand why people don’t just put it on at a reasonable price to begin with.

We’re holding out to the budget now as want to know where we stand first.

rainingsnoring · 09/09/2025 16:34

I think it's fairly common normally but a lot worse at present because of all the economic worries, the uncertainty surrounding the budget, the falling house prices in many areas, made worse by sellers and estate agents over valuing. People are losing confidence in their finances, some lenders are valuing lower than price agreed, the cost of work is very high so people may pull out after bad surveys. It's very stressful for everyone involved.

unsync · 09/09/2025 17:05

Yes. Sadly our vile neghbours' sale fell though. A lot of people in my road were thrilled they were going, and now we're stuck with them for the foreseeable. Most houses seem to fall through at least once where I am.

m00rfarm · 09/09/2025 17:11

Paintonmyshoe · 08/09/2025 18:42

Yes this, has anyone noticed a trend lately in houses popping back up in the market after being stc? Two houses I’d looked at were on the market for a couple of weeks, sold then popped back up around a month later.

My agent put my house sold and we had not even exchanged! I had no idea. Then the sale fell through. House went back on the market, and I looked at it one day online, and it was "sale agreed" and no longer on RightMove. Apparently that was an accident and only could have happened that day. Anyway - answer to your question - agents keep taking properties off the market well before they should do!

DrySherry · 09/09/2025 17:35

Lyocell · 09/09/2025 11:21

according to our local estate agent, about half of all sales are currently falling through. Our chain has collapsed 3 times. It’s not our houses fault, but the situation is just absolutely silly at the moment. We have tried our best to do due diligence before accepting offers but we get told one thing and then 2 weeks later it’s a different story, people aren’t proceedable etc. it’s not even our estate agent, it’s often the estate agent of people 2-3 below that has said one thing and changed their story. Then others anre gazundering, pulling out after surveys as they spooked (often when they haven’t done their own research or used their brains before putting an offer in). It’s like herding cats trying to get it over the finish line and I am actually about to have a breakdown. I cried last night after yet another email from our estate agent with problems in the chain.

Really half - that's much worse than I thought. Can I ask what rough part of the country your agent is working?

Original poster
Paintonmyshoe · 10/09/2025 10:43

m00rfarm · 09/09/2025 17:11

My agent put my house sold and we had not even exchanged! I had no idea. Then the sale fell through. House went back on the market, and I looked at it one day online, and it was "sale agreed" and no longer on RightMove. Apparently that was an accident and only could have happened that day. Anyway - answer to your question - agents keep taking properties off the market well before they should do!

Show quote history

Interesting. Balmy these EA’s aren’t they sometimes. I’m getting all sorts of contradictory statements from mine at the moment.

OP posts:
StrawberryThief1930 · 10/09/2025 11:08

ours fell through on the day of exchange. we lost the first time buyer at bottom of chain so whole chain collapsed. now we look like we've been on the market for ages when really we were stc for most of that.

we've just done a massive reduction to try and sell quickly and secure our onward. we're 7k in for fees at this point.

HenDoNot · 10/09/2025 11:15

There’s an estate agent local to me and it’s well know that the split second they have an offer accepted, they mark the house as SSTC on Right Move and get a sold sign outside the house the same or next day.

They think it’s good optics for them. I’d guess about 70% of their houses then come back on the market, sometimes within days.

Whereas a more experienced agent will still actively market the property until a good few weeks down the line of survey, solicitors etc.

GasPanic · 10/09/2025 11:46

HenDoNot · 10/09/2025 11:15

There’s an estate agent local to me and it’s well know that the split second they have an offer accepted, they mark the house as SSTC on Right Move and get a sold sign outside the house the same or next day.

They think it’s good optics for them. I’d guess about 70% of their houses then come back on the market, sometimes within days.

Whereas a more experienced agent will still actively market the property until a good few weeks down the line of survey, solicitors etc.

If I was a buyer I would ask an agent to take a house off the market as soon as I made an offer. Why wouldn't you ? Not doing so is just inviting competitive bids.

Of course as a seller you may not agree to this, but it doesn't send a great signal on your commitment to the buyer.

As an agent you make your money on volume, not small increases in sales value. So the minute you get a bid that you think is going to complete and you have done your dd on the buyer you are going to push for that bid to go through asap and not want others coming in muddying the waters.

HenDoNot · 10/09/2025 12:33

GasPanic · 10/09/2025 11:46

If I was a buyer I would ask an agent to take a house off the market as soon as I made an offer. Why wouldn't you ? Not doing so is just inviting competitive bids.

Of course as a seller you may not agree to this, but it doesn't send a great signal on your commitment to the buyer.

As an agent you make your money on volume, not small increases in sales value. So the minute you get a bid that you think is going to complete and you have done your dd on the buyer you are going to push for that bid to go through asap and not want others coming in muddying the waters.

Show quote history

That works both ways, as a buyer you’ve shown zero commitment until you’ve spent some money on a survey if you’re having one, and engaging conveyancers. You could spot another property that appears on the market next week or the week after that you think you’d prefer and withdraw your offer.

Plenty of stories about where a seller has accepted an offer and not heard zip from the buyers or their solicitors weeks later.

MrsSkylerWhite · 10/09/2025 12:36

GasPanic · 09/09/2025 10:36

The current market is not in a good state. In general I think volumes are still very thin and sellers are still holding out for too high prices. So an impasse basically.

Houses fall through for all sorts of reasons, but one maybe more frequent possibility in the current environment is overvaluing, where the mortgage holder will not agree to fund a house purchase because it is not worth what the purchases have offered.

Plus there is some uncertainty about where taxes will go in the budget which is making people hold off.

Your micro market is not indicative of the whole country though.

Market’s pretty hot in some NW England coastal towns, if houses are priced correctly. We completed recently, agent said it’s the best summer they’ve had for some years.

kirinm · 10/09/2025 14:06

Yes we are now looking at two houses that are both sales that fell through, one of which we offered on one back in January. That one has had two sales fall through. I think there was a lot of overbidding going on with people then having second thoughts.

The other one got to the cusp of completion and the buyer started ghosting.

We’ve pulled out of one ourselves after 6 months - they didn’t have probate and had no idea when they might. It’s still being sold ‘chain free’ even though they still don’t have probate after 2+ years.

Would help if estate agents and sellers were honest and stopped going for the overinflated offers without thinking it through.

kirinm · 10/09/2025 14:07

HenDoNot · 10/09/2025 11:15

There’s an estate agent local to me and it’s well know that the split second they have an offer accepted, they mark the house as SSTC on Right Move and get a sold sign outside the house the same or next day.

They think it’s good optics for them. I’d guess about 70% of their houses then come back on the market, sometimes within days.

Whereas a more experienced agent will still actively market the property until a good few weeks down the line of survey, solicitors etc.

I wouldn’t buy from someone who did that. Why would I?