Today, we want to bring attention to something that the Estate Agency sales team told us last week—namely, that some agents are selling properties without advertising them as being for Sale! And yet, they’re still able to get more than the asking price for these properties. Can you believe it?
In other words, there are still a lot of people looking to buy properties, and good estate agents know how to market to them.
In the last year, on average, estate agents have sold properties for 2% more than the listing price. This means that for a typical £400,000 property, the final selling price is £8,000 higher than what was initially listed.
If we focus on properties priced at under £200,000, then over the last 12 months, Estate Agents have sold these houses at an average of 3.5% higher than the asking price- which equates to £7,000 more than what was asked for a house worth £200,000.
To better understand the data, let’s take a look at some of the science behind it.
The Estate Agency team looked at the data of houses sold in Q2 2022 and compared it to sales from Q2 2021. By doing this, we were able to understand the current market landscape.
There was a 2.4% increase in properties selling without being advertised across Great Britain, which amounts to over 4,650 properties total.
If we look at just one quarter, an additional 18,600 properties that are not being advertised are being sold.
The following table shows significant differences when we look at this regionally…
The number of unlisted properties in London is significant, with an estimated 4,200 extra homes changing hands every year. This practice appears to be more common in the West Midlands, East Midlands, and Yorkshire.
4,100 more properties are being sold in the West Midlands region each year that aren’t even being advertised. In the East Midlands, this number is 3,000 annually, and 2,650 in Yorkshire.
In layman’s terms, “statistical significance” refers to the confidence level that an increase in non-advertised properties for Sale is not due to chance. Yes, this means that we are more than 99% positive that the jump is real–and not just a fluke. We would never waste your time reporting insignificant data.
Conclusion:
With many people eager to buy properties and estate agents able to sell these homes quickly and at a good price, we don’t see this trend slow down anytime soon.
If inventory dwindles and/or prices for sold items outpace asking prices, more non-advertised properties will likely enter the market.
In conclusion, we do not believe that the rise of non-advertised properties is a temporary trend; it is entirely reliant on future market conditions.
The higher the demand for property, the less likely Properties will be advertised for Sale.
I know you’re probably wondering why I’m writing to you about estate agents…
The main point here is in regards to how you market properties that are going on the market. If you only look for houses that are up For Sale, then chances are you’re missing out on a lot of potential business in your area because those homes are being sold without ever hitting the market.
Keep your marketing up-to-date, so you know what you’re spending your budget on and why it matters.
