A total of 85,104 properties on the market had their prices cut last month, according to the property search engine Home.
This was 15% more than in June last year.
The website, which takes its data from almost every estate agency website and portal in the UK, also reports that properties are now taking 113 days to sell – 13 days longer than a year ago.
Asking prices have started to show signs of coming down. They are 0.8% lower than a year ago, and 1.1% lower than six months ago.
The website predicts a further slide in asking prices over the rest of this year.
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Comments
Wardy - Ha ha!
Right, that's enough from me for this week. Will be sharpening my knives over the weekend though in case there are some more juicy stories here on Monday.
Have a good weekend all.
I know Rant, Cheryl Cole should never of been axed from from X factor, an absolute p**s take.
Thanks Wardy...
Got to get this one off my chest too. Makes my blood boil!
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/2149/24dailyexpressfrontpage.png
Your right Rant. Not every EA is, not by a long chalk.
Wardy - I agree that there are some delusional vendors out there who only read the Daily Express and cannot be convinced that house prices are falling. As said earlier on this thread, I'm not sure that every EA is doing all they can though to talk down vendor expectations.
Ha! I was thinking 'stream' then got carried away in making my point and thought 'ocean' would do it. You got me!
Fun Boy, your persistance cannot be argued. The fact that you have been around for a very long time does suggest you must be doing something right.
With regards to this discussion, we may as well knock it on the head. We won't agree on this one...ever.
I don't agree with doing anything you can to win the instruction. Yes, do as much as you can, but agreeing to go to market with an unachievable price and then working on the vendor to lower their expectations, after they have signed on the line, is not the way to 'win' an instruction. After all these years, you MUST have a better USP than that?
"If they don't sell this year they come back to me in years to come"
I'm struggling to believe that. If a house is not sold within 12 weeks, the agent has got something wrong.
Let's agree to disagree. I am sure we will agree on having a couple of beers over the weekend!
Have a good one all.
so.....on the fence eh Rant? lol not like you.
Wardy - this is what I was referring to:
Para 2: ...It was thanks in part to agents suggesting realistic prices...
Para 5: ...agents are keeping prices at a level where transactions can take place to support their revenue
Not saying that I necessarily agree or disagree though!
I did get the wink Rant but you must be reading a differnt article the the link you posted.
No idea if any one is still reading this thread... If they are, here's a link to an interesting article about Kent that uses data from Hometrack to suggest that lower asking prices have directly lead to more sales:
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/kent_homes_news/2011/july/15/realistic_price_increase_sales.aspx
Interesting to note that they place responsibility for setting prices squarely with EAs ; )
Unless you ment the 'ss minnow' from gilligans island
Great discussion all, I’ve purposely stayed out of this one.....until NOW!
'You are a minnow in the rough ocean.'
Technically a minnow is a fresh water fish (usually of the carp family) and not found in the ocean.
p.s sorry Ace, I’m bored. Solicitors wont talk to me and I have a buyer that doesn’t understand the word 'historic'
Dear Mr Ace,
You need to read a bit deeper and further, I never ever said I 'give' unrealistic valuations to gain an instruction, what I intimated was, there is no point bursting a potential clients high expectation of their property value if the result would be that potential client signing up with a competitor.
I do believe you have no comprehension of what good estate agency is about. How on earth do you survive?
I was at an EA course in January, I think you were there.
When I went in, there were a bunch of EA's in one corner harping on about HPCing. And another bunch of EA's in the other corner banging on about over pricing.
The trainer walked in, he shouted, you lot in that corner, you are all W**k**S, and you lot in the other corner, you are all F**KW*TS.
One strode out (I think it was you Mr Ace) and soid "Oi, Im not a W**K*R
The trainer just replied, go and stand with the F**KW*TS then.
Back on topic... Rightmove's latest asking price data is out (earlier than expected) and has actually fallen for the first time this year.
MoM -1.6%
YoY +0.1%
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-14/u-k-july-rightmove-house-prices-fall-for-first-time-this-year.html
Shame this thread's no longer visible on the front page. 10,000 page views is quite impressive!
Dear Mr Ace,
When I started out I had a typist taking shorthand to type property details. We sent a motorcycle courier by 2pm with our rolls of film to get the photos beck same day to produce details. We used Gloy Glue to stick the photos to the property details.
Do you remember these times Mr Ace?
I now use twitter, facebook, professional digital photographers, I have a whiz bang website, screens around my office with displays, etc. all the mod stuff.
Still here, still good.
I work with owners as MY client. I work hard for them.
I am fully aware I am 'just another brick in the wall'
I am, in fact, very grounded.
And I have a lot of FUN! even with you.
Happy days Mr Ace
Blimey! I've not seen someone with such self importance and arrogance for a long time on here.
Don't flatter yourself. Its certainly not a case of me reading your posts, my blood pressure jumping through the roof and losing sleep at night. It's a case of me coming to this site, seeing what contradictory gems you have to offer this time and thinking "mug/plank/prat". I'm sure many agents and the public will agree, given the tone and content of your posts.
I said "you are ONE of the agents who contributes to over-pricing" - that's a fact. Your take that as a chance to make it all about yourself. You are a minnow in the rough ocean.
So you do anything to get the valuation (accept unrealistic listing fees and then work them down in the long run), but you offer "the very best vendor care there is". Giving an inflated price to a vendor, then doing all you can to knock it down is good service? Where do I sign up.
Can you not see that is another contraction? You average one per post, minimum.
Home.co.uk is not very reliable!!
They were a little useful once before Google stopped showing properties (Picked up from Home.co.uk) on Google Maps/ Streetview, earlier this year!
I checked the properties they were picking up and more often than not, they were still showing some of my properties several months after they had been sold & removed from our internet website & portals. They were not showing others that had been listed for a while and many of those that they were showing had the wrong prices on them!
I like the idea that they trawl the net looking for agents properties, but they need to get better at it before I will take them seriously.
Stats are only as reliable as the original data!!!
Dear Mr Ace,
I understand your point totally.
Unfortunately it is the way our business is, I know I irritate you and that is not good. Get a chill pill and relax. If I am wrong I will go bust and be gone!
I guess if I came up against you Ace, I would win the instruction. And if you tried to 'tap' my clients up, you would find yourself up against the very best vendor care there is. I don't lose my clients. If they don't sell this year they come back to me in years to come. One or two do go, I admit, but I get 100's from other agents not doing V care, but I lose very few.
I work strategy and timescale with clients based on initial asking price. This can be double edged.
Just recently I put one property on the market for £275,000 and sold for £325,000 and another on market for £475,000 and sold for £500,000. This had competitor agents bleating too, but they didn't know the strategy, only me and my V knew this.
So sorry Ace, if I upset you, I take a round view where I can and try to help people who ask understand how it all works. There will be differing views, including yours.
Sorry again. I take it on the chin, I am single handedly responsible for an overpriced market, its me, I did it.
Ah yes, renting. Since returning to the UK in 2008 and deciding house prices were in a bubble, I've spent £15K in rent and added over twice that amount to my deposit. Had I listened to the 'advice' of the house prices only go up brigade and bought as soon as I could, I would be in a worse finanical position now to the tune of over six figures. I've also not had to pay for a replacement boiler last Christmas. Not too shabby for 'dead money'.
FBA - Please don't take this personally but I just disagree with so many things you say! I am sure you are a nice chap (your harsh outburst at PeeBee aside).
"Take the instruction, work on reductions over time "
"Alternative is argue with your potential client, lose the instruction to a competitor (who does the above) prove you were right in the long run by calling them in six or seven weeks time to say I told you so. And wait for them to refer you to all their friends and neighbours. "
"At valuation/instruction, the objective is signature, nothing else"
Surely if YOU just take the instruction at any old price and DON'T SELL, it will be other agents tapping up your customer to say how wrong YOU have got it, rubbing your reputation in the dirt.
Some of your posts tend to contradict each other.
And as for basically doing anything to get the instruction? We have identifed one of the agents who contributes to over-pricing and tipping the market out of balance, first hand.
Some of those comments...come on mate. By all means, play the game, but do it right.
Ah ha, RENTrave,
yes, yes.. you are so right.
A good agent listens twice as much as he talks, asks probing questions to get info, then makes his pitch based on the buying (instructing) motivation of his potential client.
This is assuming he wants the business.
If the buying criteria is agent displaying local market knowledge a good agent will be prepared. But if the client already knows his own price, why wind him up by trying to prove him wrong? At valuation/instruction, the objective is signature, nothing else. In that instance it may be the footy club you support, the school you went to, a road you lived in once, etc..
Hope this helps
Obviously I have never had the type of conversation that FBA is outlining. I'll throw this idea out, and it is only an idea:
Is there any harm in asking the vendor early on where they think things are at in the current market? If they provide a quick answer, this immediately gives you an insight into what their perspective is. If they look unsure, is it then worth having a few figures prepared, eg, "Well, according to the government's Land Registry, sold prices in this area are already down x% this year." This, in my mind, gives the impression of an EA that is themselves up to date with the latest details and helps inform a vendor who may not know otherwise.
Just to reiterate, I'm putting this out as an idea. If it's clearly flawed, then someone please (politely) inform me.
Afternoon Pbro £100K difference.....now that is worrying......
I trust your slightly sensitive side today did not cause you to miss the point when the owner told you about the 10 acres of land he/she owns behind the tall trees at the bottom of their garden which will be included in the sale LOL ;>)
Its one of those instructions you kind of want but then you dont want on the absolute fear you sell it within a day or so. (the vendor would so be wondering what if!) Atleast if the other agent gets it, it may well be a reduction in price in the future to keep Home busy when compiling their reports.
As the agent settles down on the plush sofa, cup of tea in left hand, buscuit in right, peering at the potential vendor who has just had 2 other agents in before him, he will often hear one, possibly two, and sometimes all three of these eternal and revolving comments
1. I'm in no rush
2. I'm not giving it away
3. I don't want no silly offers
Fellow agents are now spluttering in their coffee as they say "yeah, I hear that all the time. We all know it but don't talk about it.
The retort is "Yes Mr V, I understand fully"
What the agent knows is:
No stock = no sale. So don't let the competitor have it
Take the instruction, work on reductions over time
If it won't sell, no problem it helps sell others
Do great V care and you gain a friend in the future
If it comes off market, stay in touch, keep the client
Golden rule 1. Always leave them smiling.
The only time this won't work is if you are a Corporate Manager where you will bludgeon your client batty. The client will still come off market, just will not go back to Corporate (stir, stir)
Alternative is argue with your potential client, lose the instruction to a competitor (who does the above) prove you were right in the long run by calling them in six or seven weeks time to say I told you so. And wait for them to refer you to all their friends and neighbours.
Sorry folks. It is a business, and it is driven by many, many, many unseen factors, not just asking prices.
(Peebee, I Luv's ya man)
@PeeBee, I know that, I thought he was having a go at me (I'm feeling a bit sensitive this morning ;o)
On the other hand, I've just returned from a valuation where a competitor has valued a house over £100,000 more than me. Some things never change.
Fun Boy Agent: "But there are more of you posting here than agents." Firstly - I see myself as on the AGENTS' side; after all, I was one for sixteen years, and continue to work in the property industry. I'm in your boat - no property industry : no job...
More to the point, however. The fact that more non-Agents post than Agents tells ME something - I trust it tells you the same.
@FBA We're all potential buyers until we finally buy. I thoght EAs were interested in potential buyers. Did McEnroe smash his racket in his frustration?
I take your points buyers (non buyers)
But there are more of you posting here than agents. And agents are not interested in non buyers from a business angle.
Over 65 Million people in the UK will not buy this year. We are interested in the ones that will. We would be interested in the reasons they are buying and how we can help them. In wahtever the market, I have known 1,000's of people who won't buy, for one reason or another. I mean rising markets, falling markets, stagnant markets, robust markets and so on. It never changes.
I accept you will not buy.
Thanks for your comments though.
Mr McEnroe just had an offer of £105,000.
He said:
Mc: You cant be serious!
Me: I am serious, its 30% off your asking price.
Mc; It's a stupid offer.
Me: Why do you think so?
Mc: Coz I ain't selling for that money!
Me: The buyer thinks it's the right money.
Mc: I don't care what he thinks, I ain't selling.
He hung up
Ohhh! So much to comment on in a short time...
Okay - keeping it as short as possible:
Jonathan Black: And you are in the people business?? Wonders never cease...
Fun Boy Agent: Not wanting to enter into another exchange where I am not allowed the last word ;o) - however you and I think very differently on certain aspects so we will no doubt cross swords from time to time. Whilst I acknowledge your view that some simply cannot be sold to, I disagree that rantnrave is a lost cause. He, Sibley's..., FTB Dan to name but a few certainly like to argue their case for not buying - but I would LOVE the opportunity to "sell" houses to them. In fact, I have made it my mission to convince them to buy! Watch this space, of course...
non-insulated-wall: I have said it many times before - your head is as empty as your cavity! 'Sam' is obviously your son...
P'bro agent: You will never win with the likes of 'Sam' for two reasons: 1 - there is NO winning with the likes of them; 2 - there ARE Agents who defeat your argument with every appraisal they give, unfortunately...
Brit1234: whilst Fun Boy Agent and I have had the gloves on recently, the last thing that you can claim is that he is unable to adapt to change. Anyone who has remained in the property business through three boom/busts is EITHER
a) filthy rich and enjoys throwing good money after bad, stubborn, and thick as mince, or
b) resilient; adaptable - and bloody good at their job to boot!
I hazard a guess at the latter...
Simon: Lucky you didn't take that argument to the fifty thousand or so vendors who sold property last month! We'd have been there to scrape what was left of you off the floor, though...
A fair point well made - AofS!
After reading most of the posts on this thread, there is a severe lack of balance - such mis-guided and/or biased views.
A FEW of the regular posters have been accurate, such as rant & sbc.
This goes from FBA mocking posters, while clearly demonstrating that adaptability is not his game at all, to the classic that offices are going to shut down because they (apparently in YOUR eyes) are over-pricing - you would expect these offices to have closed already if they are not selling - MANY have done so a long time ago.
FBA -not all buyers will happy to buy your £5 notes off you for six quid.
Fair enough FBA - you are obviously not seeing the drop off in FTBs that others here (and in the RICS report) say they are. If you have sufficient business from elsewhere, then great, you're obviously doing things right (or are fluent in Mandarin).
Any wise business person who experiences a significant decline in interest from an important section of their customers would, I believe, at least want to know why (and might actually pay to find out why). But, as you've said, if you're not seeing the drop off, then it's of little interest to you.
FBA - You have unsold stock on your books how do you expect to make any money out of Mr McEnroe and Mr Rotten.
So what you are saying Fun Boy Agent is that you can't adapt. I always thought survival instincts take over when things get really.
Optimistic thoughts won't stop your firm going bankrupt.
Economically things in the world, Europe and UK are going to get a lot worse. Maybe you should try to understand what is happening and base your business plan on this to get through.
Problem is RENTrave, those people (buyers) who have their head down, buying, getting on with life in a stiff market, are unlikely to enter this forum, they wont have time or inclination to do so. They are busy buying.
From EA's perspective, we wan't to do business with those that are out and about buying, there are plenty of them, each EA just needs his share.They fuel our business, pay our bills, wages, etc. The market is still chugging along, no matter what you or I feel about it. One sure fact is, at present no EA can earn a bean out of you. So as a buyer, you are not really interesting. EA's would be far more interested in 500 posts from people who are buying, and their reason for buying.
EA's will not be interested in your negative takes on news. We are natural slaesmen, we will be optimists, we cant help it. Your (or anybody elses) negativity will naturally irritate the optimists amongst us. We can't help it, please forgive us.
If you (or I) were a car salesman, had a car showroom selling 6 or 7 cars a week in a poor market, this showroom with a bus stop outside, and every morning a man loped up to the bus stop to catch his bus, but couldn't resist popping his head around your door to say ..
"cars are too expensive, I want the prices of cars to come down, if no-one buys cars the prices will come down, and until then I am getting busses"
The salesman (after a week or so of this) would either punch the bus man on the nose or shut his showroom.
Well estate agents better get use to talking vendors prices down. Wages are frozen or being cut yet inflation is rapidly rising destroying disposable income.
With every month that goes by buyers will have less money to buy a house.
Time for sellers to get real.
JB - are you in London?
Re SBC - if you know the background of his name it helps (the original Sibley is the most ultra bull on the housing market going and can be found in the comments at the Daily Express site, where he posts gems such as 'only the houses that are put on the market will go down in price').
You do raise a good point overall though. Besides the odd inflammatory idiot, why do more than a few members of joe public feel the need to make comments on something as seemingly dull as an EA industry site? I would suggest that the presence of these posters indicates that there are some real fundamental issues in the housing market at the moment that have not been there in the past. Certain EAs sense that and, when the comments are put across respectfully, appreciate the insights of those who have turned their back on the idea of buying a house at the moment. By all means, disagree with their points, but given the continuing decline in market transactions, I think it would be foolish to dismiss their perspective entirely.
you = estate agents (you lot)
@NIR You don't know me. Please don't make crass assumptions.
@PbroAgent
You overprice properties to get the instruction and give more grief to everyone.
RnR, don't waste you're time. Every town has at least 2 over-value monkey shops. They are usually the ones to go bust first [in the down cycle] with loads of stale stock on their books after 3 months of near zero viewings [apart from "carpet treaders"].
I tried it with another Vendor this morning, his Mansion is on the market for 2 million, I think he might be Johnny Rotten, it went like this:
Me: We are on the market for 2 million, but we need to drop the price by £16,000.
Jr: Why?
Me: A news story in ETA says asking prices have dropped by 0.8% and we haven’t reduced your price yet, we are out of kilter with the market according to EAT.
Jr: You can f*** right off!
Me: My god, I wasn’t expecting such a reaction Sir.
Jr: Why not? You are an idiot!
Me: But it is the facts Sir, you can’t deny the facts.
Jr: OK, so if I drop my price to £1,984,000 will it sell?
Me: No
Jr: Why not?
Me: Such a small drop will make no difference whatsoever!
Jr: You are a f*****g idiot! How much do I need to drop to get a buyer?
Me: About £600,000, that should do it!
Jr: What is it? 16 grand or six hundred grand? How much should I drop my asking price? Don’t you know?
Me: I do know, but I am afraid to tell you because you are rotten.
Jr: How did you know I was Rotten?
Me: I guessed.
Jr: You are an idiot!
He hung up
Rant you are spot on. I've got many similar examples, sometimes I will take on a listing at a higher price in the hope that they will eventually see the light and agree to a price reduction. I WILL ALWAYS though tell the vendor my true thoughts, and be there with a polite equivalent of "I told you so" 3 months later when they don't sell.
Pbro - I'm sure you'd agree that this country's media has not exactly been rushing to tell people that house prices are coming down (although apparently it did get a mention on Corrie the other night!).
I've learned from this site that EAs do have a battle on their hands with talking down vendors' expectations. However, after a decade of credit-fuelled bubble conditions and relentless property porn on TV, I remain unconvinced that all EAs are equally committed to this challenge (yet).
Case in point - one of the more notorious overvaluers round my way (in my opinion) - has just put a two bed end terrace on the market for £130K. Five minutes walk away, there is a three bed end terrace, in comparable condition and with a bigger garden, on with a different agent for £120K, some £10K less! Ten minutes walk away, there's a detached three-bed in good condition going for £150K, just £20K more. I am tempted to ask them how on earth they arrived at a valuation of £130K!
Oh God, my maths. Blimey, I can't even find a copy of me maths 'O' level as a defence. I hang my head in shame at the maths (I knew it was wrong as soon as I pressed submit, but you can't get it back and correct it once done).
Oh Well.. !
Mr McEnroe said it didn't matter, .. £1,200 or £2,200, he ain't droppin his price, and he thinks I'm a joke.
He may be right... (you can't be serious)
@Sam are you for real? Do you think we deliberately overprice houses to make our jobs harder and give ourselves more grief?
I blame greedy vendors who are not prepared to sell their houses for less than they paid for it, or in some cases for less than some nominal value they've magicked out of thin air with no reference at all to what similar houses are selling for nearby.
There have been very slight reductions in my area. With a lot of unsold stock....Obseverved from for sale signs up for years. Many EA's and others on here claim EA's do not overvalue, they claim its the greedy vendors. They then say they cannot convince the greedy vendors to reduce the price. They also say that a %fee on sale price and no sale no fee is the only way to structure prices. I think vendors with these agents will be left with unsold overvalued properties for long time. And the agents will be seeing little income from such properties.
I blame estate agents for overvaluing the property in the first place to get the business.
If they priced the property right their books wouldn't to overfilled with stuff not shifting.
There's a disused pub I go past from time to time. Car park has space for about 15 cars, so it's a decent sized plot. Started the year on at £425K, which by March came down to £375K, dropped to £350K in mid-May, was lowered to £325K last month and as of yesterday is on Rightmove at £300K. That's a 30% drop in asking price in six months... (I accept that this doesn't exactly count as a normal property - it's more a redevelopment opportunity I'd imagine, but it's a sizeable drop).
I doubt these 'drop' figures reflect anything close to real life ... I'm seeing 20% drops or even more before some hard to stuff shift sells, otherwise it just sits unviewed and eventually the boards come down.
There are properties in my locale that have been on and off the market for 2-3 years now and often the prices are as fanciful now as they were at the beginning.
Having said that a lot of this stuff was well overpriced to begin with (not by us I hasten to add, but by some of our more cynical competitors - though I won't say we haven't made the occasional wrong call).
I have to say I don't see where Home get these piddling little drop amounts from, it doesn't reflect my daily reality at all. Add a zero to the percentages.
FBA - you made me smile thanks now im not such an unhappy chappy :0)
Bon soir PeeBee,
Fear not, i'm not getting in a pickle; I was referring specifically to Hometrack's methodology:
http://www.hometrack.co.uk/commentary-and-analysis/house-price-survey/about.cfm
'Methodology
The published Hometrack house price index is based on a monthly survey of estate agents across all postcode districts across England and Wales (e.g. SE5 and CB1 etc).'
Hometrack reckon an average of 9.odd weeks to sell. For the reasons you cite, i'm more inclined to believe Home's figures.
FBA - I like the strategy there - trying to get the vendor to drop £2,200 while convincing them they're only dropping £1,200 ; )
Mr McEnroe (impersonator) rang me back, he said
“You’re a joke”
I said, “why am I a joke?
Mc: Because you want me to reduce by price by 0.8%, why do you want me to reduce my price by 0.8%
Me: It’s due to a press report today in EAT, they say asking prices have fallen 0.8%, but we haven’t reduced your price to reflect this drop. The market is slow, we need to make your price more attractive to get viewing levels up.
Mc: If I drop from £150,000 to £147,800 will I sell it? Will I get £147,800 for it? Will £1200 make a difference?
Me: No
Mc: Why not?
Me: it needs to drop more than that!
Mc: Why?
Me: Because we are asking too much for it, you need to take offers between 5% and 10% below your asking price.
Mc; So I need to put the price up then?
Me: No.
Mc: Why not?
It will look too expensive.
Mc: No one has made an offer yet.
Me: I know, thats because the asking price is too high.
Mc: Who says?
Me: The HPC’ers who believe this is where the market is going.
Mc: You’re a joke!
Me; No, I am being serious.
Mc: You cant be serious!
He hung up again.
This story is of no use to me.
HOUSE PRICES WILL GO UP!
There - said it first.
Sorry, Will Hicks - you can't claim that one as your next 'exclusive'...
So, as predicted by moi some months ago to much bleating, the vendors ARE having to chuck the towel in.
Now is too late; the chase is on in a scramble to a long drawn out bottom.
Sibley's... me old mucker! Can I offer an alternative answer to why the figures state what they do...
Firstly, this is HOME, not Hometrack. You may be getting cross information there for a start. I don't know where you get the idea from that they send out questionnaires - perhaps you could enlighten me.
Home take their information from a variety of sources - other portals, basically - so many of the Agents will have NO CONTACT whatsoever with them.
I believe that the information is simply collated from the web history of the property. If this IS the case, then it is common for a property NOT to be marked as 'SSTC' or Under Offer until at least solicitors being instructed or even mortgage offer. Hence the protracted timeframe from listing to 'sale'.
Maybe Agents who are listed on Home would advise whether this is correct, please?
Ray: Fair enough, I can respect that.
Pbro: Cheers for the insight. I had noticed that Hometrack's data was gained via a questionnaire sent to EA offices?! Let's face it, if I owned an EA firm i'd want to put a positive shine on my figures.
In conclusion, let's assume the real figure is between the two points then.
@ Sibleys
I'm not sure I would trust everything that comes out of Hometrack. I've been in several agency offices when the person who has picked up the phone to the Hometrack researcher has just guessed the answers to many of the questions asked. I've equally been in offices where the agent has been diligent and worked out to the day or pound the average times, prices etc.
I'll give you a real example: we've been saying to customers and Hometrack alike that the average time to sell a house is about 6 months. However having recently reviewed actual data from our office I was astonished to discover 75% of our sales are agreed within two months of listing them. The reason we were so wrong is that the remaining 25% of sales took up to (and in two cases over) a year to sell from instruction.
This meant that whilst our median average was 29 days, the mean average was more like 4 1/2 months. Further many of our listings don't sell as often vendors start with unrealistic expectations and won't respond to calls asking for price reductions before withdrawing after many months. This would skew the data even further if you used the time withdrawn properties were on the market to your dataset.
And much to your credit Ray, you never lower the tone with others who hold different views from your own.
@Sibley's B'stard Child.
Don't blame you for asking but, right or wrong, I have never revealed what I consider to be sensitive information about any of my busiinesses - not on this site or in fact any other area. They can always be used to ones detriment one way or the other.. In this excercise, too long and you are not doing the job? - too quick, especially with tag lines such as " sold in 24 hours" - where was the exposure to market - have you undersold?.
Just my personal opinion you understand. ;0)
Please do direct me to all your positive posts then Brian...
Shock, horror, "rantrave" posts a negative, if he won the lottery he would find something to moan about!
Fair point Ray, turning it around then, what would be your office's average time to sell?
@Sibley's B'stard Child.
Can ANYONE shed any light on this continuous flow of contradictory information (nonsense) from every Tom Dick & Harriet?
@Fun Boy Agent.
Good post! (Have you been deinstructed?) ;0)
'The website, which takes its data from almost every estate agency website and portal in the UK, also reports that properties are now taking 113 days to sell – 13 days longer than a year ago.'
Hang about, so how come Hometrack reports maintain the average time on the market is currently 9-10 weeks?
http://www.hometrack.co.uk/commentary-and-analysis/house-price-survey/20110531.cfm
Can any EAs on here shed light on this?
@FBA
You should contact the RightmoveBlog and tell them that you are selling John McEnroe's pad ;o)
I have a client with a property on the market asking price £150,000.
I just rang the client to explain they must reduce the asking price by £1200 to be in line with 'reports' of .8% lower asking prices.
At first there was just silence at the end of the phone, then, after the uncomfortable silence came a shriek, he may have fallen from his chair, I am not sure.
He then said 'you can't be serious'.
I retorted:
'you're just using the famous John Mcenroe line in an attempt to refuse to believe the overwhelming evidence that is put before you, week in, week out by the press'
I then asked if he was John Mcenroe..
He retorted:
'you idiot' and hung up.
What am I to do with the information in this story?
Is it of any use?
I found that the most significant aspect of this report (and I'm surprised this is not mentioned in the story above actually) was the headline: 'London Leading Home Prices Lower'.
Seems that now the new stamp duty deadline has passed, the capital is leading the drop off in asking prices. Looking forward, that suggests the boost that London has given to national measures of UK house prices will shortly come to an end.
i follow the home ebsite and their stats and can say that overall they do appear to be accurate.