Home sellers across the UK are facing one of the toughest property markets in years, with the average time it takes a home to go under offer now at its highest level since 2012, according to estate agent Hamptons.
The figures were cited by Ed Magnus, a journalist at the personal finance website This is Money, in answer to a reader's question about how to sell a family home quickly before Christmas. The reader, who is expecting a second child and needs more space, said several similar-sized homes in their neighbourhood had sat unsold for months.
The reader said they and their partner planned to put their home on the market the following month in the hope of moving by Christmas. They had seen larger houses they liked but said no estate agent would take their interest seriously until they had an offer on their own home. One neighbour had listed their house in January and taken it off the market the previous month after barely any viewings, despite cutting the asking price twice, and said they would try again the following year.
Magnus said one London-based developer had described the current market as the worst they had seen in a 52-year career, while an experienced Birmingham estate agent told him it was the worst sales market they had ever known. Homeowners across the country are increasingly accepting their homes are worth less than they were a few years ago, he said, and in London some are having to accept their property is worth less than it was a decade ago.
Sellers should no longer focus on securing the highest possible price but on maximising viewings and offers to get the property sold, Magnus said, which means standing out on looks, price, or both.
He noted that falling prices can also work in a mover's favour. If a £500,000 home is now worth 10 per cent less at £450,000, a £1 million home nearby could similarly have fallen to £900,000, meaning a seller could lose £50,000 on their own sale but save £100,000 on their next purchase.
This is Money put the reader's question to three property experts: Phil Spencer, co-presenter of the Channel 4 show Location, Location, Location and founder of the property advice website Move iQ; Nicholas Austin, branch manager of estate agency RiverHomes in south-west London; and Simon Stone of Barker Stone estate agents in Berkshire.
Price it right from the start
Spencer said sellers in a buyer's market had to price competitively and accept they may need to do work to make their home more attractive. "The first step is to acknowledge that your home may not be worth as much as you hope. To have any chance of selling, the price has got to be right," he said.
He warned that listing too high initially "can torpedo your selling strategy", since homes that sit unsold for months can lead buyers to assume something is wrong with them, eventually forcing a price cut anyway. Spencer said sellers should resist the instinct to value their home above similar properties nearby, and that pricing slightly below competitors can help a listing stand out and generate viewings.
Austin said pricing mattered more than presentation. Quoting the political strategist James Carville's line "it's the economy, stupid", he said: "Given the British economy right now, you can bake all the bread you like but if your house isn't priced to sell, it's just going to sit there." He said buyers could easily look up what a seller had originally paid for a property and compare current listing photos with those from the time of purchase. "If you've done nothing to it and it is just the same as when you bought it but you're asking 20 per cent more, you don't have to be Phil and Kirstie to figure out that the property isn't worth the asking price," he said.
Choose the right estate agent
Spencer said not all estate agents were equal, and the right choice could mean the difference between a quick sale and months of anxious waiting. He advised against choosing an agent based purely on commission or the valuation offered, warning that the agent giving the highest valuation could even be a risk in the current market.
Sellers should instead focus on how tenacious an agent will be in securing a sale, he said, and check that valuations are in line with comparable properties nearby. Agents belonging to a professional body such as Propertymark are more likely to hold suitable qualifications and provide a higher standard of service, Spencer added.
Clean, declutter and banish bad smells
Spencer said sellers should clear clutter and clean thoroughly before viewings, removing personal items such as photographs and knick-knacks so buyers can picture themselves living there. Most buyers decide whether to make an offer after spending only around ten minutes in a property, he said, so a deep clean is essential to making a strong first impression.
Austin gave a blunter warning about odours. "Get a room diffuser and do not go for a number two, ten minutes before the estate agent arrives," he said, adding that he had lost count of the properties he had viewed that smelled bad. He urged sellers not to leave bins unemptied after cooking, citing a prawn stir-fry left for two days as an example, and to watch for smells from cat litter trays and wet dogs, particularly in smaller properties such as flats.
Weigh up renovations and energy efficiency
Austin said homeowners should finish any unfinished building projects before listing, since buyers are currently reluctant to take on work themselves. He said builders had become harder to find and the cost of materials had risen.
Stone said upgrading a property's Energy Performance Certificate rating had become an increasingly important factor for buyers because of higher energy prices. He said relatively low-cost improvements that push a property up a band can help attract interest.
Sell chain-free and add extras
Stone said highlighting that a sale is chain-free, meaning it does not depend on the seller finding a new home first, can make a property more attractive, since chain-free sales are less likely to fall through or be delayed. "It's a known issue for buyers and they will target no chain properties," he said, adding that sellers who have already arranged somewhere to move to can use this to their advantage over chain-bound neighbours.
He also advised sellers to be "contract ready" by instructing a solicitor, completing protocol forms and gathering paperwork in advance, and telling agents and buyers this has been done to help speed up conveyancing. Including furniture in a sale can also sway buyers, Stone said, particularly in the flat and first-time buyer market, where cash-strapped buyers can be persuaded by the prospect of lower upfront costs.
Mortgage rates have also risen in recent weeks, driven by inflation linked to the conflict with Iran, which reversed expectations that the Bank of England would cut interest rates, according to This is Money. That has added to costs for buyers and sellers looking to remortgage or move home.
