Agents need to sell listings in nine to 14 days for optimum price - claim

Properties need to be listed for at least nine to 14 days to achieve their optimum selling price, new research claims.

The HomeOwners Alliance used data from more than 6,500 branches across England & Wales on its best estate agent finder tool in January 2023 and found that the eventual sold subject to contract price paid for a property steadily decreases over time.

Agents with an average selling time of nine days achieve 102% of the asking price, raising an extra £5,000 on an average property, according to the research.

Those who sold within 10-14 days also achieved around 100% of the asking price, the data shows.

Properties that have sold quicker than this period – typically in a week – tend to go for around 96.7% of asking price, according to the research.

After 30 days on the market, sellers typically accept 99% of their original asking price, dropping to 95% once a listing hits the three-month mark.

Using an average property price of £290,000, the HomeOwners Alliance highlights that after one month, the price drop is £3,200 off the asking price and the drop is £15,400 if the property is on the market for more than three months.

Commenting on the data, Paula Higgins, chief executive of HomeOwners Alliance, said: “There is an optimum length of time to have your property on the market, and we can now show that that is nine days. 

“Properties sold more quickly than this don’t achieve their full value because they are sold too quickly. At the other end of the scale, properties which are listed for a number of weeks see their values drop steadily, particularly after they have been listed for over a month.

“Those selling a home which has been listed for a number of weeks may want to consider switching agent. If so, they should investigate criteria such as success rate, share of local market and average price achieved.”