Only 1 in 15 of all UK house sales, sell with the second estate agent

Of 1.78m UK homes sold sold subject to contract with an estate agency since 1st January 2023, under a sole agency agreement, 1.65m (14 out of 15) of those UK homes sold stc with the initial estate agent marketing the property.

Only 121k UK sold stc (1 in 15) with the second UK estate agent marketing the home

I caution that the success achieved by those initially instructed to market a property “is not a charter for estate agents to overvalue to secure the listing”.
It must noted that while 1.78m properties have sold STC since the 1st January 2023, over 2.9m UK homes have been listed since January 2023, meaning only around 60% of properties listed have had a sale agreed on them.

Once you take into account sale fall throughs, that drops to only 53% of listings exchanging and completing (when the agent is paid).

The key challenge for estate agents is not just securing the listing first time but ensuring the property is priced correctly from the outset to guarantee a successful sale.

This data (from the awesome TwentyEA) should serve as a wake-up call for UK agents and homeowners alike – overvaluing might massage your ego in the short term with your listing’s market share, in the long-term, you are setting yourself up and the homeowners you serve to failure, wasted time, lost homes they want to buy, and ultimately, financial loss for everyone.