Properties on for £800k+ not selling? Why?

[MuckyBrass]

Near me, there are loads of houses on Rightmove for around £800k, £900k, even up to £1m ish which have sat on the market for a year or two. I've long been desperate to move to a bigger house so I check Rightmove all the time, but my budget is more like £600k so I've never viewed any of them, and really I'm just being nosy. They are all lovely houses, I'd buy any of them in a heartbeat if they were on for £600k. I don't understand. Are they really for sale? Or are they just sitting on Rightmove as pretty houses to make the estate agents's rosters look good? Some of them have had their prices reduced by £100k or even more at various points, but they're still evidently not selling at the £800k plus mark.

I'm in a small (but fairly naice) market town with no train station, not an easy commute to any major city, so I actually struggle to think who would be earning enough or have the cash around here to be the actual buyers for houses in that price bracket anyway. We're not talking loads of land, either. These are normal town houses, period properties mostly, small gardens, 4-6 bedrooms.

Whilst quite gruffly writen this is actually the cusp of it. At the moment there simply aren't enough people able to afford to buy in that price bracket. The reasons are imo - firstly mortgages aren't as cheap as they used to be, and won't be getting as cheap as they used to be again anytime soon. Secondly inflation in the housing market was too high for too long (see point one for cause) and has taken affordability to the level that becomes a non starter for most family earnings. Thirdly the cost of living increases and general inflation since 2022 have further eroded affordability for what was already a smaller pool of buyers. Net result is that values are, and will continue, to fall with the top end being the first to take the hit. They in most cases don't want to take the hit and haven't accepted the new reality yet. That's both sellers and agents. If you look it from the agents viewpoint, who is going to be brave enough to tell a potential customer that they think they can sell the property - but at 100k or 200k less than the other agents who will be valuing ? Better to meet the buyers expectation by valuing toward what they know the owner "thinks" its worth and have the property on the books. From there they can slowly let the market open the sellers eyes and hopefully they get a few that will eventually capitulate and reduce enough to get a sale. Its a slow process but it is in motion. It will also feed downward into better affordability in the lower level values eventually - unless the government finds another way to pump the market. Reeves is desperate to do that as it creates the illusion of growth. Realistically though so many previous governments have done that - that it seems the toolbox is empty. Hence the current situation.

Depends where in the country you are. Here £800k just about buys a 3 bed semi, no huge heating bills!

I could afford houses in that bracket - but I cannot justify the stamp duty- it really accelerates after £500k.

It’s a market correction, where the price of houses adjusts to what available buyers can afford. Good news for buyers and there are some opportunistic negotiations to be had.

Yep. The market has effectively crashed but we’re still in the air with our feet furiously pumping and pretending it’s not happening. There’s still a few buyers at that level but an increasingly big pool of sellers chasing them. Obviously there are micro markets where there’s still movement, and individual houses which sell, but fewer.

There’s a beautiful road near us with a gorgeous outloook. Stuffed with developer-done houses at around 900k, all on sale for months.

Two in my road have sold both over 1.4 million.

where I live the prices seem to velvet going up, although some are sticking for months or years. So another issue is if you take a knock on the price of your house there’s no guarantee the one your buying will accept a similar knock and most people will be looking to buy another house.

If you have renovated and climbed the property ladder then you wouldn't need such a large salary to be able to buy that sort of property. I don't think it is easy to make money on renovating properties now but you could still do it up till covid so some younger people (sub 50) could afford it.

I think it's as someone up thread said - when you believe your house is worth xx or that it could hav sold for xx 3 years ago, selling it for less feels like a loss.

DH had good friends who were desperate to move out of London down to the coast. But they couldn't sell their house becuase they refused to budge on the price. They were open about the fact that the estate agent was telling them to reduce the price, but they just kept saying they couldn't because they needed that amount in order to buy their dream house by the sea. In the end, it took them 18 months before they sold.

If the market stays like it is now, DH and I will seriously see if we can afford to move in about a year. we simply can't even consider it now unfortunately. But if prices continue to stay like this, or even go down a little more, our house is in that sweet spot of being a lot cheaper and is more likely to sell easily, even if we don't get the price we might have got 2 years ago. When we last looked, just before Covid, the gap between our house and an upgrade that included a bit more space and a slightly nicer area was simply too huge - we could have sold for about £550k but couldn't buy for anything less than £920-950k to get what we wanted. Now, I think our house is probably still around £550k, maybe a tiny bit lower, but the houses we like are currently being priced closer to the £800-£850k mark. The gap is still huge, but perhaps it will tighten a bit more and/or we'll have a bit more money and have paid off a bit more of our existing mortgage.

I moved house last year and saw lots of slow moving property. Larger family houses where the current owners had lived for many years, children now grown up etc. The houses were all liveable but all needed new flooring, updated bathrooms , kitchens, lots of decorating etc in the medium term and it wasn't priced in.

The rare few where the owners had done more recent maintenance sold at slightly higher prices but quickly.

This is exactly where I think the market is at too.

This is exactly where I think the market is at too.
"Yep. The market has effectively crashed but we’re still in the air with our feet furiously pumping and pretending it’s not happening. There’s still a few buyers at that level but an increasingly big pool of sellers chasing them. Obviously there are micro markets where there’s still movement, and individual houses which sell, but fewer."

I'm seeing a lot around me where they are 'selling' then the sale falls through as presumably the buyers cant sell their own home to fund the purchase. Essentially a stagnant market.

We are in nobody's sweet spot. Too far from any major cities for convenient daily commuting. Not pretty enough for an 'Escape to the Country' move. Oh, and the schools and healthcare are pretty rubbish.

Yes! Lots like this near me.

Biggish houses but need gutting inside as haven’t been updated for 40 odd years.

Not a chance I’d be paying that and getting an old kitchen and bathroom and having to redecorate every single room! Some houses much cheaper have much nicer insides.

They just sit there. One though, I noticed was on for 750k, ended up going for 500 and something! Took over a year. You can get a much nicer modern house for 750k.

It means that at some point, those desperate to sell these bigger properties will either take a bit hit on price and someone will get a bargain. Or as I say they will be split into two smaller properties for more money as the house market is so distorted.

I think also there are a lot of couples trying to divorce but also end up with enough to buy two places each nearby with at least three bedrooms so that they can house their children. Let’s just say that they’re all still living together at the moment.

This still assumes house prices in your area have increased enough and your property gained enough through renovation.

I've been talking to the local council about the subject for some years and pointed out this is not something happening in this area. The only people who can afford to move in are people who had an inheritance or people who lived down south and benefitted from much bigger increases in housing equity.

If you bought locally you simply can't make that jump.

We have good finances and no debt. We couldn't afford a house at that price.

This thread has given me pause for thought. We plan to move this year from a house that is worth maybe £625k now to an area where a similar house will cost 800k. We are retired and will make up the difference with savings , leaving us with very little capital.

It really doesn’t make any sense does it? However our children and grandchildren are at the other end of the country and I am not happy where we live and have never liked this house. I suppose if we were sensible we would stay where we are.

I agree the market is very slow and sluggish at the 800k end. We’ve noticed lots and lots of houses just sitting for months or sales falling through. Several houses near us have sat on the market for a year or more at the million plus bracket too. Agree that many 800k houses need a lot of work. We are living in crazy times.

@Maidenjourney it always makes sense to move to a place that will make you happy - that’s what money is for. It’s true that you should have almost infinite choice at that level if you are moving now. And he very realistic about the cost of any work to do - drive a hard bargain and be prepared to walk away, don’t fall in love with any house too soon. Also consider how much space you really need in which areas of the house (we live in a 2 bed/boxroom semi, but the downstairs is huge and flexible), and whether it’s time to downsize.

We would downsize for ourselves but AC come to stay and now we have grandchildren too. It’s difficult. They don’t have space for us to stay with them.

But who can if they’re on the market for ages and ages?

There is one down the road from us that we looked at 5 years ago(!) when we moved, still for sale. It’s dropped by £200k in that time and has now gone on for auction with a guide price of £650k - £350k less than it’s peak price.
The main thing that put us off was the half finished extension and comparatively small garden (due to the extension) suspect a developer will buy it at auction and try to split the plot into two and make a decent profit

Fair enough. Just be picky. But make decisions that work for you - if you would be happier, then move. I bought two years ago and the house has probably lost value despite a lot of work done, but I’m so happy here, zero regrets.

People looking for their first starter home can't afford to buy a 800k house. The people who already own a decent house don't want to upgrade cause at this moment in the market they won't get their own back.

We've given up waiting for sellers to be sensible about their asking price. We're cash buyers - sold last summer and moved into rented. I've got about 20 properties saved on Rightmove that have been on the market since then - some since before then. Tired, dated, needing major upgrades but priced as though perfect. They won't budget on price.

Went to look at a small new development last week (never thought we'd buy new). At the same price point, they pay your stamp duty, you can choose all your fittings and finishes, solar panels and EV charging point included, lovely outlook, ponds and play area on site. They've also knocked £25k off the asking price for us. Although I like the character of older houses, it's a no brainer really, and we've reserved our plot which will be ready in May.