More than 3,000 property listings reduced in price each day in September

• More than 3,000 property listings a day had their asking price reduced during September, the highest figure of any month since September 2011
• Local expert estate agents report that coming to market with the most accurate and competitive price possible first time is critical to selling in the current market:
  • Homes that don’t need a price reduction find a buyer in 39 days on average, compared with 119 days for homes that are reduced
  • Homes are 13% more likely to successfully sell if they don’t need an asking price reduction
  • Nearly three-quarters of homes sold so far this year did not need a price reduction

New analysis from the UK’s largest property platform Rightmove reveals that over 3,000 property listings a day had their asking price reduced during September, the highest monthly figure since September 2011.

The figures are reflective of the current high-supply market. The total number of available homes for sale on the market is the highest it’s been for 12 years.

It also reflects the tactic from some sellers to test the market at a higher price, before reducing the asking price later. Agent experts, backed by Rightmove data, say that for the best chance of securing a buyer, sellers need to list their home at the most competitive price possible from day one of marketing.

Rightmove’s data shows that homes that don’t need a price reduction find a buyer in 39 days on average, compared with 119 days for homes that are reduced in price.

In addition, homes are 13% more likely to successfully sell if they don’t need an asking price reduction. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of homes sold so far this year did not need a price reduction.

Around 34% of homes saw an asking price reduction in September, and the average asking price reduction in September was 6.6%, equivalent to around £24,200 based on the average asking price of a home coming to market.

Tarah Lourens, Rightmove’s Chief Operating Officer, says: “Twenty years ago, pricing a home relied a lot more on instinct and local agent expertise than data. Today, we still need that local agent expert, but agents and home-movers can also see asking prices, sold prices, local competition, buyer demand and how similar homes are performing in near real-time. The market is more transparent than it’s ever been.

“Buyers can instantly compare competing homes, while agents now have access to digital products, millions of property records, and real-time market signals that simply didn’t exist even a few years ago.

“Pricing a home will always have an emotional side too. Sellers put a value on the time and money they’ve invested in their home, but buyers are looking at it alongside everything else they could buy with their budget. That’s where good local objective expertise, backed up by the right data, can help bridge the gap between what a seller hopes to achieve and what buyers are prepared to pay.

“We’ve built an ecosystem that helps both agents and home-movers to make smarter pricing decisions earlier in the moving journey. Millions of people use Rightmove to track the value of homes and understand what’s happening in their local market, while agents use tools such as Online Agent Valuation to identify potential sellers and start valuation conversations sooner. By connecting those experiences, we’re helping home-movers explore their options in the way that suits them best, while giving agents more opportunities to win instructions and grow their business.”

Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert, says: “For a seller, pricing can be emotional as well as rational. Sellers naturally think about what a neighbour achieved during the market boom, what they’ve invested in their home, or what they’d like it to be worth.

“Homes that look overpriced can stand out very quickly. It’s one of the reasons we’re seeing a record number of price reductions, with around 3,000 homes a day having their asking price cut during September. Reducing a price is a sensible step when needed, but our data shows it’s much better to avoid needing one in the first place. Homes priced right from the start find buyers much more quickly, and nearly three-quarters of homes sold this year didn’t need a reduction at all.

“The challenge is that once a home has been on the market for a while and then has a price reduction, some buyers start asking questions, even when there’s nothing wrong with the property. In a market with so much choice, first impressions matter.

“The reality is that getting less for your current home may also mean paying less for your next one, but that’s often a difficult psychological hurdle for sellers to overcome. For example, it might feel tough for a seller to initially accept that the home they paid £300,000 for is going for £285,000. However, they may be able to offset this by negotiating £15,000 off of their next home, and then feel the benefit when prices rise again.”

Katie Griffin, Director at Sawdye & Harris in Devon says: “For me, valuing a property correctly is much more than looking at a few recent sold prices and arriving at an average. Comparable evidence is important, but it needs to be interpreted properly and placed in the context of the market we are actually operating in today.

“I have been valuing property for almost 30 years, and that passion and experience is hugely valuable because not every property can be valued by comparables alone. Sometimes there may only be a handful of genuinely relevant sales, or a property may have characteristics that make it quite different from anything else that has sold nearby. That is where local knowledge, professional judgement and a real understanding of the buyer market become particularly important.

“A good valuation should be evidence-led, locally informed and backed by experience. The aim is not to tell a seller the highest number; it is to advise them on the price and marketing strategy most likely to generate genuine competition and achieve the strongest possible result.”

Craig Webster, Managing Director, Tiger Sales & Lettings in Blackpool says: “A property is ultimately only worth what a buyer is prepared to pay for it, and one of the biggest mistakes we can make as a profession is confusing an asking price with an achievable price.

“Getting the initial price right is so important because you are only new to the market once. When a property first launches, that’s when you have the greatest opportunity to capture the attention of active buyers who have been waiting for something like it. If the price is significantly ahead of the market, those buyers don’t necessarily negotiate – they can simply move on to one of the alternatives.

“The danger with the strategy of ‘let’s try a higher price and reduce it later’ is that you can lose that initial momentum. By the time the price reaches the level it arguably should have started at, buyers can already be asking why the property hasn’t sold. Price reductions can correct the number, but they can’t give you back your first day on the market.

“Ultimately, a valuation shouldn’t be a number designed to win an instruction. It should be a strategy designed to achieve a sale.”

Dr John Boyle, Director of Research & Strategy at Rettie, operating across Scotland says: “Setting a realistic asking price is one of the most important factors in achieving a successful sale, although that responsibility sits with both sellers and agents. In Scotland, the Home Report system can help establish a benchmark from the outset by providing an independent valuation before a property is brought to market. It’s not a perfect system, and market conditions will always influence what a buyer is willing to pay, but it does give buyers and sellers a clearer starting point and can help anchor expectations. Ultimately, homes priced in line with market reality are more likely to attract interest and achieve a successful outcome.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:
About Rightmove

• Rightmove has the UK’s largest selection of properties for sale and to rent, adds more listings than anyone else
• Latest view from Comscore is over 80% of all time spent on property portals is on Rightmove, and latest view from SimilarWeb is over 70% of time spent on property portals in the UK is on Rightmove (two datasets used across the industry to track time spent on portals)
• Rightmove’s vision is to give everyone the belief that they can make their move by giving people the best place to turn and return to for access to tools and expertise to make it happen
• Users can search Rightmove for residential resale, new homes, rentals, built for rent, commercial property and overseas properties. Rightmove also provide an extensive range of tools and information assisting their home moving journey, including but not limited to: local sold prices, online property valuation, agent visit requests, moving guides, mortgage in principle certification, renovation calculator, extension explorer, home services for renters like utilities, media and insurance, school information, moving guides and sustainability information
• Partners (Rightmove’s customers) include the following key groups: estate agents, letting agents, new homes developers, rental operators, commercial property operators, overseas property agents, financial services operators and home services providers for insurance, utilities and media
• Using the UK’s largest housing datasets, we issue a number of regular reports to track housing market indicators: our monthly House Price Index (established 2002), quarterly Rental Trends Tracker (established 2015), weekly Mortgage Rates Tracker (established 2023) and quarterly Commercial Insights Tracker (established 2024). Historical data is available on request
• Founded in 2000, Rightmove listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 (ticker: RMV) and is a member of the FTSE 250 Index, with a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt trading on the over the counter (OTC) Market (ticker: RMVEY)