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.

Yes, Uncle Donald may be about to cause the whole financial system a problem not just higher end homes.

This has a bit knock on effect on the economy because of people realise there is uncertainty in the true worth of their houses they psychologically are less willing to spend money as feel less rich. There is something depressing about the reduction of value of what for many is there major asset and a large proportion of their net worth.

people planning to downsize realise they won't get as much for their property and start to make savings elsewhere.

This is true. The reversal of the 'wealth effect' that has helped prop up the UK economy, and some other economies for a long time now.
So the economy deteriorates, unemployment increases, as expected, leading to house prices generally falling and that then has a knock on effect on home owners too. The newly unemployed also spend less, leading to more troubles for other businesses, etc.

I'm not sure this will have a major effect rapidly but, if he really does impose much higher tariffs, it would definitely be bad for some UK businesses.

We're quite ambivalent about selling; we love the house so unless we get the price we want, we'll stay put. We don't need to adapt the house as it's perfectly manageable on a single level, which is street level. The bus goes past the front door and supermarkets deliver. We just fancied a change with a bit more cultural activity and new walks. If I have to suffer the M5, then that's the price!

If you are quite happy to stay put then it won't be a problem for you. It certainly sounds like a lovely house to live in and you must like the area and know masses of people there.

How much did your house cost as a multiple of your income at the time?

If he "takes" Greenland, that is big, it destroys the Nato alliance, credit markets will not react well to that, a Plan B being touted is that Denmark/EU step up to ensure Greenland has a enough security by upping the military presence, but then Trump is relying on them for security and I don"t think this is what he wants ultimately.

The other (more important than Tariffs) problem is Japan, the bond market story there is now affecting U.S Treasuries.

https://www.ft.com/content/68349aa9-9b4e-44a2-abd4-f1964308cf29

Sorry, I thought you meant a rapid effect overnight. I totally agree that there will be major implications when he takes Greenland (I think it's a when rather than if!). It' definitely possible that markets might react but I think the greater implications are geopolitical ones. I can't say I have any sympathy for the European leaders at al, but that's a different thread...
I also agree that the situation in Japan is likely to worsen++.
I also think there are other 'black swans', which aren't really black swans on the horizon as they are potentially predictable. Things could carry on a while longer though.
Wrt the housing market specifically, unemployment rising plus much higher costs of everything will continue to put downwards pressure on housing, especially higher end housing. If rates fall, which they may well do, I don't think it will create this magical bounce that many people are convinced it will.

The trump tariffs in 2025 lowered financial markets by 10% over 2 days.
This time the UK and EU are specifically targeted so the impact on our economies may he higher. That does impact uncertainty about investment, jobs, interest rates, and house buying.

This is a silly post, sorry. There are loads of people who can afford £800k - all of those who bought the houses! (May have spent less but comparatively expensive at the time of purchase).

There are loads of lawyers, doctors, techies,CEOs, business owners who can afford £800k- £1m, to suggest otherwise is naive.

It sounds like you’re close to affording it but can’t quite. I suspect you just need to either lower your expectations or wait until you’ve saved more. You can’t expect people to drop their price so you can buy it - they take longer to sell in this shit market, of course, but they’ll sell once it picks up.

This is a downward market and with interest rates being high, lenders are restricting what they’ll lend. Once interest rates go down a little, as predicted to, people will be able to borrow more again and these houses will sell.

'Once interest rates go down a little, as predicted to, people will be able to borrow more again and these houses will sell'

That's what lots of people assume but rates have already fallen and houses have been selling less well recently despite this. Imo, rates will fall because of recession, which will cause job losses and falling incomes/loss of income, resulting in these houses falling further in value. Rates are not the only factor here. Other housing markets across the world (NZ, Canada, US) have fallen or are frozen and v likely to fall too.

There are other factors impacting on what people will pay aside from interest rates going down a bit (if that happens, who knows.) That includes sentiment, the jobs market and the wider economy. And whether they think they will make any money or could lose money by buying. People may just not pay the prices in the next few years that they used to.

In short, there is a reason behind rate cuts - stimulating the wider economy - and it isn’t a positive. We are heading for recession and perhaps an early electon. I’m less sure of the second point.

Exactly re your first point. Not convinced re the early election, although Labour may well get rid of Starmer.

Yes I agree, it’s really not that complicated…
Most £800K houses aren’t actually worth that and so on down.
Houses that have jumped 100/200K in a few years aren’t going to sell. The buyer would like to make a little money too 🤷🏻‍♀️
Houses used to fly off round here but people are sick of the greed, endless long chains, houses then not selling atall.
Lots reduced & coming back on the market.

If those houses have been on the market for over 4/5 months they are overpriced and the market is falling. If you are interested in purchasing one look at the cheapest that has been the market the longest. If it interests you and you are proceedable make the best offer you can. No problem it is just a yes or no from the vendor.

"Most £800K houses aren’t actually worth that "

Well not any more, and the solution is very simple, drop the price if you want to sell, demand is also down so the price cuts may have to be quite big in many cases.

Use PropertyLog or similar to see what level of price cuts other sellers in the area are making before offering, and be prepared to cut your offer if (when) the market deteriorates further.

This is an issue for me. I live in a 4 bed andnirs band G and yet there are more expensive 5 and 6 beds in our village which are a band E or F. Our house was built just after the date they took the values for council tax and many of these other houses are much older. No idea why or how this is the case.

Who replaces him, AB? Surely that would be an even bigger train wreck?

AB looks like the front runner at the moment. The whole thing is a giant, slow motion train wreck, although there are several other countries vying to be first in the pile up!

To me th is is the price tag for houses that were once affordable for young to middle age professionals e.g. teachers, doctors, local accountants and solicitors but now aren't due to house price inflation and cost of liiving. In my area there is a surge of new build in the 400K mark that is hoovering up buyers from what we would term middle England.

people are now accepting new build with little or no renovation cost as the 800K properties whilst still desirable are sadly out of reach.

Renovation costs are a big factor. I hate new builds but have reluctantly begun thinking that there are many advantages in having a guarantee and everything new, including solar panels .

The damage Labour's last budget did to the property market, and the economy in general, cannot be underestimated and has decimated confidence in the UK. The lead up was beyond incompetent and would have bordered on negligent in any other field other than the public sector.