Disappointed with house valuation

[mumma24]

House valued at £625,000 to £650,000 by 3 agents but I think it will sell for more to the right buyer. We would consider listing for offers over £675,000.
and willing to wait for the right buyer but feel like agents are just looking for a quick sal. All our previous 4 homes have sold within 4 weeks. Dont really want to list privately but what else can we do

Is 'offers over' fairly normal for your area? It does vary, where I live it's unusual, so it comes across as the seller not really wanting to move or negotiate on anything and potentially being a bit difficult. But i know in other areas its much more standard.

The other thing is that if the house ends up being listed for a long time (because the price is too high) that in itself becomes a bit off putting. People can start to think 'there must be something wrong with it, or surely someone else would have bought it in all this time'.

EAs will sometimes agree to overvalue in order to get the business. In this family, relatives who were handling a probate sale, but didn’t know the area at all, believed an EA’s high valuation and ignored our advice to reduce when it failed to sell.

Eventually they reduced in mini dribs and drabs, until it finally sold after 2 years - to someone who’d offered more a year previously - and been turned down!!

Looking up house price stats this is what’s happened in 2025 and a rightmove prediction for 2026

December 2025
The most recent data from Halifax and Nationwide as of early January 2026 indicates a clear north-south divide in annual price performance for 2025.

Region/Country Annual Change % (approx)Average Price (approx)Trend
Northern Ireland +7.5% to +9.7%

Scotland +3.9%

Wales +1.6% to +3.2%

North West (England) +3.5%

London -1.3% to +0.7%

East Anglia -0.8%

However
Local Variations: Even within regions, performance varied. For example, Plymouth and Stafford saw significant price rises (over 12%), while other southern towns like Crawley and High Wycombe experienced steep falls of up to 8.9% over the course of 2025

Rightmove predictions 2026

Will house prices go up for first-time buyers in 2026?
Yes, our experts predict that house prices will go up by 2% nationwide in 2026, with regional variations at play. That said, buyer affordability will also improve, with average wages growing faster than the house price increases and better mortgage rates than in previous years. It will be a buyer’s market in 2026, with a good choice of homes for first-time buyers and more negotiation power.

So perhaps wait and see OP
but it’s all relative really if you’re looking to sell one and buy another

To those saying wait, well it’s a fools errand trying to predict the market.

the market is subdued especially the ‘luxury’ real estate market ie property over £500k because it’s unaffordable for many.

to afford a house that much you need a duel income house with a combined income pushing £150k, the reality most people regardless of location don’t really earn that. Rates are still higher, mortgages will be stress tested at the 5 year pay rate (still around 4%, sometimes plus a margin) and 2 year even less affordable. The type of person buying a house like this is likely a second time buyer with a family, so going to be stuck with stamp duty.

the markets have locked on a 25 bps reduction in April and then there as 60% chance of another late in the year, but it’s too far out to guess. So there is no guarantee that the market will rebound if you wait it out…and likely if you do and it does, other properties will increase in that time too so it’s tantamount to the same thing.

in truth it depends where you are, the welsh market is very subdued and the south, areas of the midlands still seem to be pretty boyant

I am looking to move and the houses I'm looking at in this price bracket are way overpriced, imo (and not just my opinion - our estate agent has said this too).

My house has an offer for the asking price of £470k, but taking on another £200k of debt (plus around £40k in moving costs, not to mention interest) seems to just get us an extra bedroom and a slightly bigger lounge, and a worse location. We're probably going to end up just installing a garden office instead and sucking up the long commute. I expect we're not the only people that want to upsize but can't justify the cost. Every house we've looked at has dropped £50k off the asking price and has been sitting there unsold since before last summer.

As a person who lives 'up north' the reason 'expensive' properties don't sell is because we are a low income area.

There are historic mansions, stately homes, tonnes of old huge farm houses with manicured garden and other grand houses that are ABSOLOUTELY worth what they are on for but 98% of locals simply DO NOT HAVE that amount of money. Of course they are not going to just lower the price to that of an average 1960s semi that any Joe Bloggs can afford though.

I can't afford a new Ferrari, I don't know anyone that can... doesn't mean they are overpriced just because I can't afford it.

The pool of buyers when you have an expensive product is much smaller so it takes time to find one.

Yes some people overprice (and OP sounds like one of them) but 'expensive' houses are not overpriced, cheap houses that are just over valued (but usually within achievable rates) are the issue.

Agents price houses based on condition and recent sales data of similar homes. If anything, certain agents tend to over value, to secure your business, then tell you a few weeks in there are no enquiries (at which point you’re signed up and have had photos done), then they suggest you take the price down to whatever the local agent said in the first place. If you are absolutely convinced it would sell for more, ask agents if they will do soft launch at your price, where you do not appear on internet sites, but they are able to show potential buyers round. Might help you clarify uncertainty around price. On a positive note, mortgage interest rates are due to go down in April, this should encourage more buyers to market at all price points.

We are actually looking to buy and have been advised by a family friend whose been an estate agent for over 30 years to start looking but expect prices to drop around Easter.

Also, the mortgage company will also value it and if they feel the offer is over what house is worth won't be approved. If you are prepared to wait for market to pick up then just wait.

£675k is a bad price point for Rightmove as you’ll be competing against houses at £700k and be invisible to buyers up to 650. In your shoes I’d list at offers over £650. (Actually I’d just list at 650 but I’m assuming you’ve ruled this out.)

What makes you think it’s worth more than the agents have said?

If you've had 3 in the same bracket, they're probably accurate, so it depends how bothered you are about moving. Would it be worse for you to miss out on roughly 25-50k or to miss out on moving to the new area? I don't think anyone can answer that other than you.

Our neighbours did this and did not sell. By the time they agreed to drop 50k off the asking £750k down to £700k, as per EA advice, prices had come down again. If they had listened to EA they absolutely would have sold at £700k in the first instance. And we would have helped them pack, nasty people

The market was poor pre Christmas and looking great now.
If 3 totally different agents have all said the same price, Im not sure why you think its worth more unless you are an Agent yourself. They arent really interested in quick sales, their job is to get you the most money. I suggest you do OIEO 650 and see where it goes.

Exactly, if knowing the extra commission they're still valuing it significantly under then that means they really do not think there is the slightest point in even trying it at the higher amount and then knocking down!

Before the rush to buy during the pandemic I sold my lease favourite house. I took a quote from an EA who had sold for me before and it was far too high. You need to be in the right search criteria.

If you put it up too high it will not sell.

Share the link and let us judge!

So a few things:

• market is crap and slow.
• if you wait to get the extra £25k, you may find that the houses you are interested in also go up comparatively, so you are no better off
• houses on the market a long time invite low ball offers or put people off because you don't seem motivated to sell (so more likely to pull out)
• the decorative condition of a property no longer increases it's value like it once did. A 25k kitchen won't get 15k more on the value than a 10k kitchen.

I've sold a couple of houses lately and needed to take offers and they were lower end. My friends trying to sell their absolutely gorgeous house have been sat there for nearly two years now when they need to move really for health reasons.

I did tell them a value a few years ago but they thought it was worth more and are waiting on a buyer who can't sell. Market has been slow for a while now and stamp duty being whacked up hasn't helped. There's fewer 2nd home buyers probably too, due to the 5% surcharge.

We went to market at the end of September. £675-695k. Absolutely no interest. Second agent has warned us anything between £500k- 1m is sticking due to the fear from the budget leak. We have to sell due to disability so we're now on at £600- 625k in three months!
We've owned it three years and last year we had notes through the door asking us to sell.
I'm deeply worried tbh. Were south commutable to London . Private estate.

If you love in London go with Jackson’s. They happily over value houses to get the listing and then suggest a substantial price drop a couple of months later. Has happened to two of our neighbours

If 3 EAs valued the house within a 25k range, the house is probably worth about what they have valued it at. As the market is stagnant in many areas, you may well find it harder to sell this time round than you have done in the past.

EAs will list for higher than their valuation if you insist, within reason. But you're probably shooting yourself in the foot to do so, unless you are 100% sure they have undervalued it (seems unlikely this would happen 3 times).

I would put it on at the higher valuation they suggest - no higher.

Dexters do the same. It's a well known strategy.

It's pretty rare for estate agents to under-value a place when seeking your business. Usually the opposite.

When I sold my parents' house on their behalf, three agents valued at £680k and one at £725k. We went for 725k and it sold within a week! Same with when DH and I sold our first house. Low valuations by two or three agents, one was higher and achieved full asking price. I know it isn't always the case, but if you sense the house could get more, go for it. Just declutter and clean every inch of the house, put fresh flowers in the garden - even in winter, some plants are in bloom, fix all niggly DIY stuff and set dress it as prettily as you can, if you are after a higher valuation.

I wouldn't put oieo. It really puts people off. They think - how far in excess? Most people like a bargain. Put oiro, so people can make an offer that you are happy with, which they feel is a bit of a discount.

The state of the market doesn’t really make any difference if you are buying another house in an area/price point that has been adversely affected. (Unless it puts you in to negative equity) You will be able to buy your next house at a lower price too.

With world affairs and the economy the way it is, anything other than basic, lower end of the market houses will start to drop in value/become slow to sell.