If the market is slowing down, should you take your property off the market?

Is the housing market in turmoil? Are prices are going to drop, and our monthly mortgage payments are about to go through the roof! If you're currently trying to sell your property, have you lost hope? Should you abandon your home moving plans and take the property off the market? Read on to find out…

If you're trying to sell your home, you might think you'd be better off ignoring the news headlines completely. They're nothing but doom and gloom and will raise the blood pressure of any homeowner trying to sell. But what is the market really like? How do you feel about the sale of your home? What are your agents saying?

It's fair to say that the market has slowed down somewhat after recent years of chaotic sales, but a slowing down isn't the same as a crash. We're not seeing bidding wars or fights for viewing appointments quite like in 2021 and 2022, but that does not mean it is crashing.

The truth is that the market we've been experiencing over recent years has not been typical. And whilst it has slowed, the prices and sales are still higher than they were pre-pandemic. We've just become used to the hectic market, with homes selling immediately and offers increasing above the asking price. Buyers have been so desperate to secure a property that they have been willing to pay over the odds. This imbalance between supply and demand increased property values and created a sellers' market.

But does this mean you need to take your home off the market and stay where you are? If the market is no longer a crazy busy sellers' market, is there any point in trying to move? Of course, there is. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!

The property market is fluid and constantly changing, and regardless of what new statistics the media are reporting, this is not unusual. This is how the property market has always been and will always continue to be. So, there is no need to make rash decisions, withdrawing your property from the market and, with it, your dreams of a new home.

Instead, it could just be time to regroup, reassess and adjust the marketing of your property to suit the current market conditions.

If the market has changed, your property is no longer priced accurately, and you will be very unlikely to find a buyer, so you must adjust your pricing to match the changes in the market.

This may be a bitter pill to swallow if you've been watching house prices skyrocket over recent years, but you must be realistic. If the market has changed, you'll be unlikely to sell at a price that isn't in line with these changes, and so your pricing must follow suit.

Fundamentally, if you're stubbornly trying to hold on to the price that your home was valued at during a booming market, you aren't likely to be able to find a buyer, so you may as well take your home off the market and make peace with the fact that you are staying put. After all, prices don't tend to rise very quickly under normal circumstances, so it could be years before the value of your property reaches your goal figure again.

But if you still have hopes of selling your home and moving on to pastures new, then you may need to be realistic and assess whether your home is correctly priced in today's market, not the market of 12 months ago. And remember, properties always sell. People will need somewhere to live, regardless of the market conditions. You need to price your home in line with the market to find your buyer.

You need to consider that you put your home on the market for a reason, whatever that was, and that problem that you have will not go away simply because the housing market has experienced a correction. The value of a property is only confirmed when a buyer has made an acceptable offer; until that point, it is really just an estimate.

Try to forget about the dizzying heights of property values of last year and think about today. And remember that any seller you buy from is in the same boat as you, trying to sell their home in an adjusting market. They, too, will likely have had to compromise on the value of their home because they, too, can remember the values of recent years that are simply not there anymore.

Market corrections are not necessarily bad; lower prices mean you are not so stretched with mortgages and deposits or stamp duty tax. But they can be caused by many factors, most of which are entirely out of your control, such as the economy, the mortgage lenders' criteria, interest rates and inflation.

Due to the rising cost of living and the increasing inflation rate, buyers and mortgage lenders are being a little more cautious. We have quickly seen a shift from a seller's market to a buyer's market almost across the whole country. This simply means that more properties are available on the market than buyers are looking to buy. So, you are now competing with the other properties on the market to attract those few available buyers, and this usually comes down to price.

If you're on the market and losing hope or struggling to sell, contact our team of property experts, who can advise you on the best way to navigate this tricky market and get your home sold.