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.

@MuckyBrass reading that it strikes me (again) that the property market is backwards. Or at least, we need better options and for it to be socially acceptable for empty nesters to down size. In an ideal world the pp would sell their big family home, move to a lovely 2 bed and free up a family home. They could invest the money they have left into their childrens homes to help them buy the much sought after family home, allowing them to stop with their kids. But it rarely seems to happen that way. I know lots of people.will say "why should they, its their home , their money'? But why not? Sometimes we have to realise we are part of the problem and we have the power to be part of the solution.

wow. I don’t know who this fantasy buyer is that people think is going to swoop in and buy all these damp empty old houses with 1970s kitchens for the best part of a million pounds!

But it’s not the really expensive houses I’m talking about. The immaculate £2m houses are very much their own market. Yes, there’s always a small pool of rich people and gorgeous massive houses for them which sell on their own timescale. I’m talking about a very specific bracket - too cheap for the rich to want, too expensive for everyone else.

I have really noticed this. We are currently on the market in the 900k ish range - 5 double bedrooms, 2 en-suites (have had a couple of good offers but they haven’t been proceedable). Generally things around this price seem to sit there for months. We are looking to buy in the same area up to £1.3m and those actually seem to be moving faster. I know we are very lucky and it’s a nice problem to have.

and the "soon" to be re-banded council tax....

Poor job market
High energy costs and COL
Possibly the private school VAT thing skewing the market if there aren't top-notch state options nearby.

Also, as PP wrote - estate agents coming along and outvaluing one another to get business is an absolute travesty. An older friend had her house valued at, by my estimate, £300k / 20% higher than a price it could realistically fetch. Shocker, it's still on the market eight months on and she's turned down "low" offers that were actually broadly in the right ballpark based on what has sold before. I feel like I wouldn't have fallen for that because I am all over the RM sold data, but she has.

We have just started searching for another house. We’re looking within that price bracket but we’re in London. Right on the outskirts zone 6 but all the houses need a lot of work. We only want to move for better secondary schools we’ve changed the area too but the area with better schools has even more hideous houses. The pictures are terrible with stuff cluttered everywhere. I presume it will take us a year to find something decent by which point the price will have gone up and we won’t be able to afford it. 🤷‍♀️

my budget is more like £600k so I've never viewed any of them. They are all lovely houses, I'd buy any of them in a heartbeat if they were on for £600k.

Well you just answered your own question. The pool of potential buyers are much smaller but of course they aren't going to take £200/£300/£400k less just to meet lower budgets.

People need to remember in most cases sellers are not losing anything by listing their house. They do not need to sell, they have a investment they are still currently using and even with mild fluctuation its an overall increasing market. They could have listed their house in 2012 and left it on market not sold in all this time and STILL would have lost anything if they are living there and can afford it (however it would have gone up in price).

They have the commodity (one many people would love if they could) just because those people can't afford it does not mean its 'worth less'. There's plenty of demand, they have the supply, there is just not many with the 'means' to make the dream reality.

@housethatbuiltme true. But surely there comes a time when the cost, both financially and physically, of running a large family home outweighs the benefit of staying. Take my neighbour, for example. We live in a modest 3 bed victorian terrace. Our neighbour has lived in hers for over 50 years. She loves her house, but admits it's too much for her now. She is in her mid 80s. It's too expensive to heat, the steps are difficult for her, the garden she once loved is inaccessible due to steps. She's lonely as all of her peers have moved on, many living in purpose built accommodation. I understand why she won't move, but it's sad to see her struggle. And that's just a modest 3 bed. Imagine with a big 4/5 bed and large gardens. Sometimes value is worth more than what's in the bank.

Kite flying and people who don't need to sell.

The £100k difference between selling quickly and being a long time on the market is a lot of money to most people.

So if they don't need the cash instantly a lot are prepared to wait a long time to see whether that elusive buyer turns up.

Of course, a bit like mortgage loan interest, all the money spent on things like council tax, maintenance, insurance and fuel bills in the meantime on an empty house is often conveniently forgotten, or more easily dealt with because the cost doesn't appear all at once.

We did
We didn’t even have a kitchen
We exist

but what area are you in OP?

Same in our area. 800-1million. All need significant work on them. Many are empty so the work they need is getting more every day as leaks create greater damp as the rain pours in.

Builders are also a nightmare to get hold of so a fixer upper is less appealing than it was if it requires anything that needs more than 1-2 people. Dh and I can paint, possibly plaster but I can't lift a steel beam!

Assuming they leave it empty. Most people are happy to just sit and wait

I have 2 friends that live in 800k plus houses, in our friendship circle they are the probably the ones who would be able to afford stuff like that. One moved away from our town having not sold her house and they bought their next house outright. We are all older in our fifties but that’s still some going.

They have the commodity (one many people would love if they could) just because those people can't afford it does not mean its 'worth less'. There's plenty of demand, they have the supply, there is just not many with the 'means' to make the dream reality.

It is worth less though if the actual market for it exists at a lower price? like if I want to sell my boots on vinted for £200 but the most anybody will pay is £100 then I either sell them for that or don't sell them surely? or go okay I'll wait, in the end someone will pay £200. Well they might, or they might not.

yes! they bought the house for £159k in 1990 and get annoyed they can’t sell it for 1.4 million now

We live in a £600k-ish house that is a 4 bed terrace with no parking. Small mortgage of £40k left. We’ve spent £200k doing it up over the years with loft conversion, extension etc so it’s cost us around £450k. We are a high income household (£190k base salary combined) and yet we can’t afford to move up to the next house bracket here which is around £900k-£1m.

I look around and wonder who can to be honest. There must be some generous support from family or incredibly hefty mortgages out there. There are probably also people who don’t take holidays and make other sacrifices.

With £190k income and £560k equity you could definitely afford a £900k-£1m house.

There are no lovely 2 bed homes to move to.

I want a garage and a garden. And space. If l could find a 2 bed like that I’d go.

Stamp duty on a £900k house is £35,000. Plus other moving costs.
That needs to be found from after-tax income (for normal folks). So people aren't moving unless they have to.

Aging homeowners, cost of living increases, poor job security, poor future wage growth prospects, and a reasonable likelihood that property value won't increase are all a part of this.

I'm in this space. I want to move but don't want to increase mortgage to do so. I have limited years to pay back before retirement and I think my career may have peaked. So staying put.

We travel for schools more than I'd like, put up with a less nice area, but have security of a low mortgage right now and can see the end of it.

I think I've accepted that the next step on the housing ladder just isn't going to happen, so adjusting priorities accordingly (and going on holiday more!).

Everyone is skint mate.

I’ve done a mortgage calc for you

Its a slow day 🤣🤣 but tbh I was just being nosey to see what you could afford on your income

Based on the Halifax calculator
you can afford £900000 mortgage ( up to but I doubt it would reduce that much ) on top of your current equity of £560000
so £1.46 million

Yeah that makes no sense. I know people on 35k each getting the best part of 400k mortgages.

People find it very hard to accept that their house isn't worth what they have long believed it to be worth.
I think this is very understandable. BUT in a falling market your best option is to reduce for a quick sale rather than wait around and end up having to reduce much more to get it to sell at all.

The forecast is moderate growth