‘Cheerleader’ estate agents, who encourage vendors to push up the asking price of their property, more than double the average time it takes to sell the home, according to new research by Andrews estate agents.
So-called ‘Pom-pom pricing’ could add almost three months to a typical sale, potentially costing the vendor more in the long run and increasing stress.
Correctly priced homes that require no reductions take just over seven weeks to accept an offer, according to data obtained by Andrews from Spectre. However for sellers who have to make a price reduction, the average process takes more than 18 weeks, or an extra 80 days.
For those owners requiring two price reductions, it takes more than 27 weeks to agree a sale, increasing to almost 36 weeks for those requiring three price drops, and hitting nearly a year for those requiring six or more.
By contrast almost a third – 31% – of realistically priced homes sell in the first two weeks, compared with only 7% of those that need one price reduction.
The picture varies across the country, with homes in Greater London taking 17.7 weeks to sell, compared with an average across England and Wales of 14.4 weeks.
Table: Average time to sell properties by number of reductions across the UK
|
Reductions
|
||||||||
|
Region
|
Average time to sell
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6+
|
|
Greater London
|
17.7
|
7.7
|
18.3
|
28.1
|
35.9
|
44.7
|
49.3
|
49.7
|
|
South East
|
15.5
|
7.0
|
18.0
|
27.8
|
36.4
|
46.0
|
47.2
|
53.5
|
|
Wales
|
14.5
|
7.4
|
19.9
|
28.6
|
35.9
|
42.8
|
45.6
|
45.9
|
|
East
|
14.5
|
6.6
|
17.6
|
26.9
|
34.6
|
41.4
|
48.7
|
49.0
|
|
North West
|
13.8
|
7.1
|
18.5
|
27.6
|
35.4
|
37.5
|
50.5
|
46.6
|
|
East Midlands
|
13.7
|
6.7
|
17.8
|
26.5
|
34.3
|
39.7
|
45.7
|
47.7
|
|
South West
|
13.6
|
6.7
|
18.4
|
28.4
|
37.4
|
41.9
|
48.0
|
50.1
|
|
West Midlands
|
13.2
|
6.8
|
18.2
|
27.6
|
35.9
|
41.5
|
51.9
|
53.4
|
|
North East
|
12.6
|
6.8
|
18.1
|
26.4
|
33.6
|
44.1
|
44.7
|
46.4
|
|
Yorkshire and the Humber
|
12.4
|
6.7
|
18.5
|
26.9
|
33.3
|
39.6
|
41.4
|
46.1
|
|
UK average
|
14.4
|
7.0
|
18.3
|
27.7
|
35.7
|
42.4
|
47.7
|
49.6
|
Source: Andrews / Spectre
Properly priced properties sell fastest in the East, taking only 6.6 weeks to find a buyer, while homes in Greater London take more than a week longer on average, at 7.7 weeks.
Carl Howard, group CEO of Andrews estate agents, commented: “When you’re selling a home it’s wise to interview a few different estate agents to get a clear idea of your property’s true value, but don’t be tempted to go automatically for the highest valuation.
“Some estate agents offer unrealistically high valuations for properties, knowing that owners will see pound signs flashing before their eyes.
“The danger of setting too high an asking price for your home is that it will stagnate on the market, appearing increasingly stale as buyers wait for the inevitable price reduction. As our research shows, pitching too high is a false economy that can leave sellers in limbo and may even lead them to miss out on their next property.”