Pom-pom pricing peril

‘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 unfortunate enough to need 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

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, comments: “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.

“Andrews estate agents value properties realistically from the start, because this is proven to be the best way to achieve not just a sale, but also the highest price for your home.

“We pride ourselves on being the only UK estate agent owned and run by a charitable trust.”

 If you are looking for an honest, up to date market appraisal, why not book online, or get in touch with your local agent here. 

Sources

1. Data collected from 01/01/2022 to 15/04/2023 by Spectre.

_{About Andrews}

_{Andrews has been in business for more than 75 years and is here to help everyone buying or selling, renting or letting property. As the only estate agent in the UK owned by a charitable trust, we have donated more than £10 million in agency profits to charities and social enterprises around the world.}

_{About Spectre}

_{Established in 2015, Spectre is the UK’s leading and most advanced prospecting tool for estate and letting agents, underpinned by award-winning property and market data. Trusted by the biggest and best brands, Spectre’s suite of marketing tools is proven to help agencies win instructions and increase market share fast.}