When Hannah Syers and her husband Dave bought their four-bedroom detached house in Leeds in late 2020, they thought they’d snagged a bargain. The couple, both 38, had negotiated the £580,000 asking price down to £550,000.
“There was a nervousness in the market about people moving house,” explains Hannah, who works in PR and marketing. “It was probably a good time to buy.”
But six years on, the Syers are on the other side of the housing market and wishing that buyers weren’t having quite such an easy time of it.
They listed their property on Boxing Day, hoping to relocate to the village where Dave grew up before their three-year-old begins primary school and their 11-year-old starts secondary school. They set a deadline of the end of September to either sell up and move, or stay put.
But with the deadline just weeks away, the Syers have had just “a handful of viewings” and a smattering of low-ball offers, despite slashing the asking price on their family home from £750,000 to £720,000.
“It’s a great family home that should be snapped up, so it’s been a bit surprising,” says Hannah. “We’re not in a position where we have to sell, so I don’t feel we should settle for less than the property is worth.”
‘The market is in a bit of a rut’
The Syers are not alone. Rightmove recently warned that the number of homes for sale hit a 12-year high for this time of year. New sellers slashed average asking prices by two per cent in August, the biggest dip for that month since 2018.
It took an average of 81 days for sellers to find a buyer in January. That fell to 60 days by May, but remained well above the average of 51 days it has taken to sell in the fastest months historically.
Zoopla estimates that almost half of homes listed do not sell at all, with roughly three in five of those listed since the beginning of the year failing to find a buyer by the middle of the summer.
“The market just feels like it’s in a bit of a rut,” says Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons. “Homes that are really well sought after and really well priced are continuing to sell quite quickly. But the economic backdrop has been challenging for a lot of buyers.”
Higher mortgage rates, uncertainty around the upcoming Budget – the first from the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham – and worries about tax are adding to the problem, says Beveridge.
“There is still demand, absolutely, but we’re seeing fewer people looking than we have for a couple of years, and that’s why homes are sitting on the market longer.”
The two-week test
Struggling sellers should act faster than they might think, reckons Beveridge. She says it’s important to pay attention to the feedback you’re getting from the market. “If you’re not getting much interest within the first month or even the first couple of weeks of your property coming to market, it’s quite telling for its long-term future.”
As the Syers are learning, a token cut of the asking price may no longer be enough to attract buyers. Zoopla found that 53 per cent of successful sellers were forced to cut their asking price to attract a buyer. At the start of 2026, homes were typically selling for 3.5 per cent below asking price – or around £18,800.
For every five percentage points that a home is priced above its local market average, it is roughly five per cent less likely to sell. Reduced homes take over twice as long as those that are priced correctly from their first day on the market.
“Buyers are price-sensitive and won’t waste time going to see something that doesn’t look like it’s been priced in 2026,” says Henry Pryor, a property buying agent. “The asking price isn’t a statement of value. It’s part of the marketing, there to get the attention of someone who might want to buy. If you get it wrong, you will spend weeks wondering why no one is coming to see your lovely home.”
Hamptons reported that in July, some 56 per cent of offers on homes from buy-to-let investors were at least 10 per cent below asking price, the highest share since the start of the pandemic. Sellers are increasingly capitulating, with over a quarter of those offers accepted, up from 18 per cent a year prior. The longer a home stays on the market, the larger the cut in the asking price when it eventually sells.
So, have the Syers simply failed to assess the market value of their home correctly by listing it for £720,000 and then refusing to entertain low offers?
“They have had people through the door and offers put forward, which gives them a better sense of the true value of the property than those that get no interest at all – that’s actually quite a good guide price,” says Beveridge.
House prices in Leeds have risen strongly since 2020, as they have across much of the North, she adds. “So they’re probably right to ask more than they paid – but they’re possibly being a little overambitious relative to comparable properties nearby.”
Should sellers wait for brighter days?
For sellers who genuinely do not need to sell, withdrawing from the market – as the Syers plan on doing – may be wise. Listings that have been on the market for some time attract lower bids, and January and February tend to be the quickest months to relist.
Sellers can opt to buy their next home and rent out the old one, but this means forking out the five per cent additional-property stamp duty surcharge, which is only refundable if you manage to sell within 36 months.
Nonetheless, sellers choosing to stick it out should not expect a rapid rebound for the property market, not least with rumours circling of a lowered mansion tax threshold from £2m to £1.5m as part of the Budget.
“Our view is that mortgage rates probably will come down within the next six or so months, but what happens around that is very difficult to predict,” says Beveridge. “It almost feels like we’ve had this silent house price correction in the background. A big, big chunk of the country will have seen their property fall in value in real terms.”
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