In this blog:
- Is it harder to sell my house when there are lots of homes on the market?
- How do buyers decide which homes to book a viewing on?
- How are higher mortgage rates affecting buyers in Hampshire?
- What can I do to make sure my home gets viewings this winter?
It is a Sunday evening and a buyer is sitting on the sofa with their phone. They have a budget, a list of villages and a rough idea of what they want. Their search returns more homes than it would have done a year ago.
They will choose a handful to see in person. The rest will not be seen at all. That decision takes a few seconds per home, and it happens before you or your agent ever speak to them.
If you are thinking of selling in Alton, Petersfield, Liphook or the surrounding villages this winter, that moment on the sofa is the one that decides how your sale goes.
What has changed this autumn
Rightmove’s October figures show more homes for sale than at this point in any year since 2014. Sales agreed are around 8% lower than this time last year, and asking prices are broadly flat.
At the same time, mortgages have become more expensive. Rightmove reports the average two year fixed rate at around 5.5%, up from about 4.25% in February. On a typical new mortgage, that is roughly £250 a month more.
So buyers have more homes to choose from and, in many cases, less to spend. They have not gone away. They are being more selective. A home that would have sold simply by being available two years ago now has to earn its place on a buyer’s shortlist first.
Your competition is not your street. It is the buyer’s screen
When we price your home, we look closely at what has sold on your road and in your part of the village. That is the right way to set a price.
But the buyer does not see your home next to your neighbours. They see it next to every other home that matches their search, across a much wider area than you might expect.
A buyer looking for a commuter home near Alton station sees Alton town, Holybourne, Four Marks and Medstead side by side. Each village feels different to live in but on a portal screen they are one page of results at a similar price. A family searching around Petersfield is comparing the town centre with Liss, Steep and the South Downs villages at the same time, even though those places attract very different buyers in practice. And someone searching around Liphook is looking across both sides of the county border, from Headley to Haslemere, often without a strong preference for either county until the right home appears.
Your home does not need to be the cheapest on that screen. It needs to be the clearest choice for the right buyer at its price.
How a buyer builds their shortlist
In our experience, buyers narrow a long list down to a short one in four quick steps. Each one is a point where your home either stays in or drops out.
- The price filter. Buyers set a maximum price on the portal, usually a round number. With higher mortgage rates, many buyers have lowered their maximum this year, so the price band you sit in matters more than it did.
- The first photo. In a list of results, every home is a single photo, a price and one line of text. The lead photo needs to show the thing your buyer is searching for. For a family, that might be the kitchen and garden. For a downsizer, it might be the view or the fact everything is on one level. The front of the house is not always the right choice.
- The side by side comparison. Once a buyer has a few homes in front of them at a similar price, they compare what each one offers for the money. Bedrooms, garden, parking, condition, location. If your home offers more than the others but the listing does not make that obvious, the buyer will not work it out for themselves.
- The signals. Buyers notice how long a home has been listed and whether the price has been reduced. A home that has been on the market since the summer, with a reduction label, raises a question in the buyer’s mind before they have even opened the listing. In a crowded market, many will move on to the next one.
Why the first two weeks matter more this winter
Most serious buyers have saved searches and email alerts set up. When a new home comes onto the market, it goes straight to their inbox and their phone. That is the moment of maximum attention.
If a home launches at the wrong price and is reduced a month later, the reduction does reach buyers again. But by then, many of them have already looked at it and decided against it. A second look rarely gets the same attention as the first.
This is why testing the market with a high price is a bigger risk this winter than it has been for some time. With so much choice, buyers do not wait for a home to come down. They buy something else.
What gets a home onto the shortlist
None of this is complicated, but all of it needs to be decided before your home goes live, not after the first few weeks have passed.
- A price set within the search band your buyer is actually using.
- A lead photo chosen for the buyer most likely to want your home.
- An opening line that tells that buyer, straight away, why this home is the right one.
- A launch at the right price first time, so the new listing alert does its job.
- An introduction to buyers already registered with us before your home appears online.
That last point is one of the biggest advantages of using a local agent with an active buyer list. A buyer who hears about your home directly from us is not comparing it against twenty others on a portal. They are looking at it on its own merits.
If your home is already on the market
If your home has been on the market for a while and enquiries have been quiet, it is unlikely that there are no buyers for it. It is more likely that it is not making their shortlist.
A useful exercise is to search for your home on your phone, the way a buyer would, and look at it alongside the other homes in the same price range. Does it stand out? Would you click on it?
If you would like a second opinion, we are happy to look at it with you, even if your home is listed with another agent. Getting this right before January means your home is ready for the buyers who return to the market after Christmas.
Thinking of selling in Alton, Petersfield, Liphook or the surrounding villages?
More choice for buyers does not mean homes are not selling. It means buyers are choosing more carefully, and the homes that are positioned well are still finding the right buyer.
We will tell you which price band your home should sit in, who is searching for a home like yours right now and what will put it at the top of their shortlist. That applies whether you are planning to launch before Christmas or in the new year.
Book a valuation with Homes in Alton, Petersfield or Liphook.