Almost half of sellers have had buyers ask for a price reduction since the coronavirus pandemic struck the UK but many are resisting, Strike claims.
Analysis among 2,000 sellers by the online agent found 45% of sellers have received discounted offers ranging from 5% to 10% below asking price.
A quarter of respondents said they would consider a reduction of between 5% to 10% but 29% said they won’t accept a lower offer.
Despite this, 52% of sellers are confident that they can make a sale this year and 18% said they have had more interest in their property than they expected.
Sam Mitchell, chief executive of Strike, said: “Now that restrictions have been lifted, property demand is booming.
“Not only was there pent up demand to move after months of being unable to, but the Government’s Stamp Duty holiday being released into a low-interest-rate environment has also worked wonders for the UK property market’s revival.
“Over the past few months we’ve seen at least a 50% increase in demand from buyers now versus before lockdown and we are on average agreeing twice as many sales per week as we were pre-lockdown which is astonishing.
“While buyers are always going to try and get a good deal on a property, and who can really blame them for trying, demand is so high that sellers might not feel the need to lower prices in the current market.
“Many of our own customers are seeing multiple offers to choose from – an ideal situation to be in. But it is also important to remember, the quality of any offer is also worth weighing up.”
Comments (2)
This market will run out of steam. Some stubborn sellers will become casualties if they don’t react to the market they have now.
The market is still price sensitive and as well as there being increased demand there is increased supply so more competition. Sellers shouldn’t be reducing their price if it’s on at the right money, but a property is worth what someone will pay for it so they do have to listen to what the market is saying it’s worth. If you’ve had 10 Viewings and no offers then it may be price related. Equally if it’s been on for 2 weeks and not had viewings, same answer. Minor adjustments can make the difference between selling and not.