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.

Why don’t you view them and them if you like 3 of them put an offer in at your max price… u never know your luck!!!

The reason this exchange has gone on far too long is because you have denied exactly that (that London property has fallen in general), made a mistake with your initial generalisation and then doubled down on it. Repeatedly.

Good to see that finally can admit what I have stated throughout. It took a while!

As far as I remember, the ones I noticed in particular were in the Exeter area. I don't think that's the only place though. I have also seen some in a different area which were priced much higher pr sq ft than the period properties v nearby. That's why I said that it seems variable.

@rainingsnoring It’s continued because you don’t really know what you’re talking about and keep returning to defend yourself and accuse me of saying things I have not.

Nowhere have I ever denied a falling market, stagnation, slowdown etc.

But I have a more nuanced grasp of the market and the city and you misinterpreted what I said.

So many experts on MNs property forums! 😁

I’m no expert, far from it.

I don`t like the sound of the service charges at all, scary IMO.

😂

Sales volume is one of the most important things to look at, that is the health or otherwise of the market.

That was just people fantasizing that they were going to "buy in the country" and work in their PJ"s telling the boss they "Wouldn`t be in this month", most of them will either be back at their desk or paid off by now, one of the things that depressed flat sales was interest rates heading back to normal.

I think it's a bit more complicated than that.

Oh. Just looked at your edited post and realised you're the poster with the weird changing fonts who's always convinced the entire property market is about to tank and they'll be flogging off London houses at £20 a pop. Nice try.

So many Google experts. 😌

Not many people will be flogging 800k London houses unless they are really good houses.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/mortgage-rates-back-on-the-rise-three-more-major-lenders-hike-home-loan-prices/ar-AA1VvEFr

First 5 pages on rightmove for £800k houses in London

Total properties looked at = 125
Total sstc and a few uo = 39
Total % sstc and uo = 31.2%

Of those already showing as sstc and uo the average number of months on the market to date = 4.72months / property

The properties vary between old and some new. Condition is on the whole good with some requiring updating. No complete refurbs

So they are selling in London

Under offer and SSTC doesn"t mean sold though, many come back onto the market when the sales fall through, often because lenders won"t match the buyer"s offer.

https://www.rics.org/news-insights/housing-market-weakens-buyer-demand-softens-prices-retain-downward-pressure

Obviously they are not sold but it’s impossible to get all of that information for the whole of London based on price and giving length on the market from one site
Or even at all once they are sold

This is giving a clear indication however that a very good % of properties are selling at that price and are sstc/uo after a relatively short time.
Remember those that are online as sstc could have been as such for several months already.

Your article is dated August 25. The market was slower due to the caution caused by the looming budget. It has improved since then and all reports state that

They’re not going to be “really good” at 800k. That’s entry level for a house in London - either scruffy area or very small.

"Entry Level", that made me laugh, London sales are way way down, entry level is going to need to be a lot lower I think.

What reports, can you quote any that are not from a desperate EA? Have you looked at the figures for EA"s going bust, those are also interesting. By any measure London house sales have collapsed, and with mortgage rates going up again I don"t think things are quite as positive as you are claiming.

https://www.plumplot.co.uk/London-property-transactions.html

Last year the average for a terrace was £875k and a semi just over £1mill

from sales stats

Sales volumes were way down though.

https://londonproperty.co.uk/en/crisis-change-london-property-market-turmoil-2025/

You laugh as you’ve no idea.

I take no notice of estate agents

Up down up down up down No surprises there then !
Thats how the economy has been going for decades.

Have you no experience of this

People buy, There’s a rush, people stay around for a while and move on and people buy again ….off we go on the merry go round

The housing market isn’t always at the same rate…no more than the economy is

That does not mean houses aren’t selling
as I noted over 30% in less than 5 months in the £800k price bracket alone

I take further info from the Government website which publish everything from Land registry. So directly from the actual source.
Apart from the one I’ve attached there are many more

👏👏

The people who borrowed their way into these houses have no idea, I don"t think they will be laughing though.