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.

I guess historically your correct but it certainly won't feel like it if your in that boat. Something like an extra 2k a year to find on average.

People will find 2k a year, it just means less take-aways and nights out meaning more pubs etc. closing? I would expect mortgage rates to go above 4.8% though, there is just too much credit/bond market volatility going on at the moment.

The average rate of interest post war I believe is 4% and believe this is what you are supposed to calculate pension/ long term investments on as a base.

We've had a period of unusually long low interest rates which people got used to and budgeted for. What they didn't budget for was a jump from being on a 1.5% mortgage to being on a 4.8% mortgage or a 6% mortgage as it was not too long ago for some circumstances.

That's the problem. Not the rate itself but the increase in a short period. It would be a similar issue if rates were 10% and jumped to 15% in a short period.

And this is combined with people really stretching themselves in the first place to get the size of mortgage they have.

We had our mortgage jump up massively a couple of years ago so we went for a two year in the hope that it would come down. It's a gamble which we are still hoping will hold out and pay off when we come to renewal this year. I have to say it's looking shaky with world events but we shall see. Fingers crossed we hit it at the right time.

Other people I know still have to hit that big bump up and it's not a small jump either for what they earn. Of course it's going to impact a lot on a lot of people.

Agree. I am expecting it to go up again in the next couple of months.

Won't that accelerate the market. People coming off fixed mortgages finding they cannot afford the new rate resulting in them moving to cheaper property.
£1m move to £800k. £800k move to £600k £600k move to £400k

Who is going to buy the £1million house?

It hasn't accelerated the market in the last two years. Why would that change now?

I might, but I will be offering 700k ;)

Houses on for £700k ish aren’t going to be affected by new council tax rates
That's only for the value over £2mill
So they are a long long way from that

In terms of putting their property up for more than previously
Im guessing they aren’t fussed when or if they sell so they can do what they like I suppose. It’s their house

Lots of people put their properties up for sale with just a vague thought about moving. If they sell theyll move and if they don’t they are quite happy to stay.

Lots of people have the money.
More expensive properties have always taken longer to sell
They are selling near me and I believe not for that much under the asking either

New builds are rarely in the million pound range and most are 3/4 beds. It’s the eventual glut of 3/4 beds that’s the area to watch going forward.

I should have said stimulate not accelerate. If many cannot afford their mortgage they will sell. Those selling £1m will target the £800k range.

downsize not upsize. £800k is always someone's downsize.

Londoners? You can’t really buy a family house in inner London for less than a million. Possibly SE side.

He was interviewed, became v defensive and then said something about the US gov. being the lender of last resort for such huge companies/sectors, something like that. It was then reported that he had met someone in gov. to discuss- I can't remember the exact details as it was several months ago. I think we can almost guarantee that it will be true though!! These massive corporations approve of Socialism every time for themselves, but Corporate Capitalism for everyone else.

I think this age group in particularly is so used to making ££££ on their property out of nothing that they simply refuse to believe that it won't happen this time. Unfortunately for a lot of people who bought recently and then decide to move, it's not always the case.

I could be totally wrong, of course, but I still think that rates will come down more later in 2026 due to recession. For that reason, I don't think it will boost demand at all @Masqueradingatmidnight. I think the higher unemployment will do the opposite.

If many cannot afford their mortgage they will sell. Those selling £1m will target the £800k range.
downsize not upsize. £800k is always someone's downsize.

For this to work out you've got to have people able to pay all the £1millions though haven't you.

Exactly! If lots of people can't afford their large mortgages, that causes falls in prices.

Lots of people might still have the money in London and the SE because of them having equity and much higher salaries than in other parts of the UK. However, that number has shrunk for various reasons. These more expensive properties have come down in price nationally more than cheaper properties.

The cheaper properties, especially in areas where they are more affordable relative to salaries, are selling better.

Yes
I am in the Southeast and cheaper properties have always sold quicker

I’d say the average for more expensive ones in good order is a year

That’s certainly not true in London. Properties here in the £1 to 5 million bracket sell quickly. Even in the recent slowdown detached property prices are still rising.

It’s relative though
The £2mill properties in my area are detached 6 bedrooms with large gardens/ land. You can get 4 beds for far less
In some parts of London you’ll pay £££ for the same type of property

If there’s nothing else and that’s the price and people want to stay in London theyll pay
Here in the SE people commute to London. They have a choice and many move for larger but cheaper properties than in London
We’re still an expensive /wealthy area so more expensive properties sell though. Just not as quick

Not according to the Land Registry data which this website uses:

https://ottaproperty.co.uk/trends

If you look at London by region, some areas are nearly 30% down from peak on the raw LR data. I've seen it reported that prime London is down >30%. Given this, I somehow doubt that all London properties in the bracket are selling quickly!

A year is a v long time to sell a property @BrownTroutBluesAgain and suggests it is v over priced. Most of the ones I have seen that take so long to sell end up with multiple reductions or they are removed and then the owners try again with another agent and then another one.

Appreciate a year seems long raining but for the more expensive properties in my area it’s not.
The only ones that tend to go quicker are
those that need renovation at a bargain price
and probates looking for a quick sale.
A year for a £2mill is average

You can’t understand the London property market from Google.

Prices for detached properties in my area rose 0.3% in the last year when everything else is stagnant. You cannot get that info from general stats on all property types. Good houses on good roads in London still sell fast because there is so much market for them. You have to be ready to move fast if one comes up for sale.

Overall there are far more people who want to live in London than there are houses. Which keeps pressure on the market even as it is generally stalling. As the clientele is international they may not be affected by U.K. specific economics.

Agree and the same goes for easy commuter areas as well as those near private schools or good grammars like mine
Houses here aren’t dropping in price

You need buyers though, people don"t want to buy when they feel under pressure financially, the higher values over 1 million have been stalled for a long time, that is now spreading down the price bands as demand dries up, people are more likely to stay put and make savings elsewhere to pay the mortgage debt, that is what happened in previous housing busts anyway to my knowledge.