Harlow property market July 2023
Harlow property market July 2023. How many properties are for sale June 2022 – June 2023. Below are two graphics for you to look at and digest. all stats and figures are from Home.co.uk (https://www.home.co.uk/).
The first thing that sticks out is that there are over twice as many properties for sale now than a year ago. In fact there are nearly three times as many terraced properties for sale now!
The second graphic drills down further into this stat by looking at the properties by bedroom size.
So you can see from looking at the two graphics above that terraced property for sale has tripled in the last year and 3 bedroom properties have doubled!
However, when we look at the next graphic (below) we see exactly what’s happening with the amount of sales that are happening in Harlow..
So the most worrying thing here is that property for sale has doubled, and yet property sold has dropped by almost 60%. Now, it’s true that the figures above are Mar 22 – Mar 23 (as there is a lag in collating property sold figures), and while the graph shows Mar 23 improved slightly on Feb 23, the unofficial figures for April, May, and June 23 suggests a slight drop on Mar 23.
Is this drop in properties sold simply down to ‘Interest Rates’ and ‘Inflation’?
Well that’s an interesting question and it would be too easy to just say yes!
There is no doubt that the rise in Mortgage Rates and Inflation refusing to drop are major factors. However, there is another reason that the amount of property being sold has slowed. OVER PRICING!
Look at the graphic below..
You can see from the graphic above that the fall in prices from around Sept & Oct 22 was in the main steady until around Jan 23. Since then (with the odd exception) prices have ‘flatlined’ in Harlow, even though the Regional trend (East of England), and the National trend has seen a steady albeit small month on month reduction.
HOWEVER, IT GETS EVEN WORSE!
In the last 3 months, if you look at the graphic above, property in Harlow have risen slightly!
Why?
OVER PRICING!
We are seeing this on a daily basis. It is something that we are horrified to see. It is bad for the market, dreadful for the vendors, and totally off putting for buyers!
Of course, it goes without saying that everyone wants as much money for their property as they can get. That’s understandable and logical. It’s the methods many estate agents use today that are illogical and totally non-understandable that worry me!
So what are they doing?
Harlow agents are over pricing!
How do we know that?
Well the fact that around 50-60% of properties have to have at least one price reduction is the first thing! Many have 2, some have 3 and even 4!!
There may be twice as many properties on the market than this time last year BUT, only a small percentage are selling. That means less money for estate agents, and when that happens then desperation steps in!
Instead of proving to home owners that they can market the property superbly, instead of producing fabulous local knowledge, instead of showing conclusive proof as to the real value of their property, instead of being 100% upfront and honest with sellers and telling them that their property is actually worth £325,000 and NOT the £350,000 they were hoping for, they simply over value to try and get the instruction.
The most common thing that is happening in Harlow right now is, for example:
An agent knows in his/her heart that a property is worth say, £375,000. What they say though is, “Let’s put it on for £425,000 and see what happens because you never know”! Then after 2 weeks they say, “No one has enquired so let’s reduce it to £400,000”! Then 4/6 weeks later they have to have to same conversation again.
Now, you would think that eventually the property will reduce enough to find its true value and then sell. Indeed, this does happen sometimes. However, consider this: What do you think potential buyers think of a property that has been on the market for months and has had 1,2 or 3 price reductions?
I think you know what the answer is to that!
I can almost hear some of you thinking “Do Town & Country Harlow have property that’s over priced and been on the market too long”?
The answer is YES!
Why?
Because it isn’t always the agents fault. Sometimes we have vendors (we have three at the moment) who simply will not or indeed cannot sell for less than their property is on for. This will always happen from time to time.
What is happening right now though is simply wrong!
If you are going to bring your property to market, even if you are not going to use us, MAKE SURE THE AGENT YOU ARE USING PROVES CONCLUSIVELY HOW HE CAME TO THE VALUE OF YOUR PROPERTY!
IF YOUR PROPERTY IS ADVERTISED FOR WHAT IT IS REALLY WORTH, IT WILL SELL!
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