When you are preparing to move, the price you can get for your existing property might be one of the most important things you will want to know, since it helps dictate how much you have to spend on your next property.
Because of the reliance on funding your next property, or perhaps because the neighbours next-door-but-one got X amount, it can be tempting to overprice your property – after all, negotiating is part of the fun of the housebuying and selling process, isn’t it? Surely overpricing is to be expected?
However tempting it may be, overpricing is damaging, especially in the current market, and can impact your sale, causing it to take longer or even not happen at all. Here’s why it’s bad news:
Buyers will overlook a property that’s too highly priced
Negotiating is still part of the buying process, but often buyers will simply fail to engage, overlooking an overpriced property for a more realistically priced new pad they can fall in love with without wondering whether they can actually afford it. A recent study found that a property being overpriced was the biggest reason (56%) prospective buyers failed to make an offer.
Overpricing risks jeopardising your next purchase
Research by Zoopla suggests that 44% of UK homes listed for sale in the past three years failed to sell, with overpricing the biggest cause. Of those, 16.2% knew they had overpriced from the start, while a third (34%) realised with hindsight that what they had thought was a fair price originally was actually too high.
One in five (21%) had inflated their asking price based on what they needed to buy a home they’d already found, but almost the same amount (21.7%) then saw their move fail because they couldn’t get the price they needed, according to Zoopla.
Overpriced properties linger longer
The supply of homes remains at its highest levels in over 12 years – which means plenty of choice for buyers. This oversupply means that buyers don’t have to even consider an overpriced property – because there are plenty available that are correctly priced. Rightmove research shows that properties that require a price reduction spend an average of 127 days on the market, compared to a third of that time (36 days) for those that don’t.
Price cuts don’t necessarily work
You might assume that you can cut the price if no-one bites at your initial asking price. But latest research from Connells says that reductions are proving less effective than a year ago, with 38% of properties whose prices are cut resulting in an offer, down from 41% in 2025.
Meanwhile, Rightmove’s latest house price index shows that nearly three-quarters (74%) of homes that have sold so far this year have done so without a price reduction being required. Getting the price right first time remains as important as ever.
For more information on how we can assist you on your sales journey, please contact one of our branches in Essex, London or Hertfordshire today. We also offer a free and instant online valuation to give you an idea of how much your home could be worth on the current market.
