Slow-to-sell property hotspots

Slow-to-sell property hotspots and the price cuts sellers are taking to attract a buyer

Research by property purchasing specialist, HBB Solutions, reveals that properties which are slow to sell command an average price of up to -17% below England’s overall average house price with the biggest slow-seller markets found in London and the South East. 

Despite England’s housing market running red hot since 2020, some homes are still lingering on the market for a long time, struggling to attract quality buyers. Upon analysing all homes that have remained on the market for more than 14 months, HBB Solutions’ research reveals that there are 9,263 slow-selling homes in England, the largest proportion of which are located in London where 2,643 slow-selling homes account for 29% of the national total. 

The South East is home to 24% of England’s slow-selling homes with a total of 2,207 while in the East of England, 1,061 slow-sellers account for 11% of the national total.

In the North West, 862 slow-sellers account for 9% of the total, and the local city of Liverpool is home to 164.

In the South West, 686 slow-selling homes make up 7% of England’s total, with 58 of them located in the local city of Bristol.

Meanwhile, the West Midlands is home to 548 slow-sellers – 6% of the national total – 52 of which are located in Nottingham.

What causes a home to be slow to sell?

There are a number of reasons that might cause a property to be slow to sell. If a home is in a dilapidated condition or simply poorly presented, buyers can be quickly turned off.

The old cliche of location, location, location also has a part to play. Even when a housing market is booming, it doesn’t mean that high buyer demand is universal for the whole country. There will always be some markets where demand is low and where perfectly good homes that would be snapped up elsewhere stagnate for more than a year. 

Another common issue is overpricing. When sellers, often advised by their estate agents, market a house at an unrealistically high price, it can work to minimise buyer interest and often result in the need for a price reduction.

In fact, HBB’s research suggests that vendors with slow-selling homes will often reduce the price in the hope of finally attracting a buyer. As such, on average, homes that have been on the market for more than 14 months have a value -4.4% below England’s overall average house price, selling for £291,361 instead of £304,867. 

Slow-selling homes suffer the most significant price reductions in the East Midlands (-7.1%), West Midlands (-7.0%), Yorkshire & Humber (-4.3%), East of England (-4.2%), and London (-3.9%). 

On a city level, the biggest reductions are found in Liverpool (-17.3%), Sheffield (-17.2%), Bradford (-16.9%), Leeds (-16.2%), and Newcastle (-14.7%)

Managing Director of HBB Solutions, Chris Hodgkinson, commented:

“There have been moments in modern history where market and wider economic circumstances meant that demand for homes hit a worrisome slump resulting in many properties falling into the slow selling category. But today is not one of those times. In fact, it’s the complete opposite.

Demand is through the roof with buyers competing with each other for, it sometimes seems, whatever they can find on the market, often resulting in offers stretching well above the original asking price. 

In such a hot market, it’s more likely than not that there is a good reason for a home being slow to sell. Its condition might be poor, its location undesirable, or even its price too high. And sellers can try and remedy all of these issues before trying again on the open market. However, improving the state of a home takes time and money, there is nothing that can be done to change the location, and even the simple act of reducing the price can be tricky because buyers may start to eye the property with suspicion – what must be wrong with it for them to resort to accepting less money? 

That’s why, sometimes, if you’ve been stuck on the market for months on end with no signs of hope, your best option is to consider alternative routes to selling. Through homebuying specialists like HBB Solutions, you can be sure to get a fair price for your home and feel confident that the transaction will be completed very quickly indeed.”

Data tables

Data tables and sources can be viewed online, here.