Why Over-Pricing Your Home Costs You in Bradford

Every week I sit at somebody's kitchen table in Clayton or Wibsey and the same hope comes up: "Let's put it on a bit higher and see what happens." I understand the thinking. Nobody wants to leave money on the table. But right now, more than ever, getting the asking price right from day one matters, and over-pricing usually does the opposite of what people expect.

The market isn't rewarding optimism this year

The latest Rightmove figures give a clear picture of where we are. Nationally, average asking prices fell 0.6% this month to £376,191, the biggest June drop in fourteen years, as sellers try to tempt summer buyers. Closer to home, Yorkshire and the Humber sits at an average of £259,064, and homes here are taking around 62 days to find a buyer.

Sixty-two days is the average, and that's for homes priced sensibly. Put a property on with an ambitious number and you're not starting that clock, you're delaying it.

Buyer demand across the country is down 10% on a year ago. When there are fewer buyers actively looking, every one of them counts, and they are being careful. They've done their homework online before they ever pick up the phone. An over-priced home rarely fools anyone; it just gets scrolled past.

What over-pricing actually does

Here's the pattern I see time and again. A home goes on too high. The first two or three weeks are the busiest a listing will ever be, because that's when it lands in front of everyone who has been waiting for something like it. If the price is wrong, those buyers look and move on.

Then come the reductions. By the time the price is where it should have been in the first place, the property has been sitting there for weeks. Buyers notice how long something has been listed, and they start to wonder what's wrong with it. A house that could have sold well now carries a question mark, and that often means accepting less than if it had been priced correctly from the start.

The irony is that a realistic price tends to create competition, and competition is what actually pushes an offer up.

Realistic isn't the same as cheap

I want to be clear, because "price it right" can sound like "price it low". It isn't. A realistic asking price is the one that reflects what your home is genuinely worth to today's buyers, based on what's actually selling around you in Queensbury, Halifax or your corner of the BD postcodes.

There are a couple of things working in sellers' favour too. The average two-year fixed mortgage rate has eased to 5.07%, down from 5.18% last month, which trims the typical monthly payment by around £30. Small, but it helps the buyers you want to attract. And while national prices are down slightly year on year, Yorkshire is holding steadier than the south, essentially level on last year. Our patch is more resilient than the headlines suggest, precisely because it's affordable.

How I approach it with you

When I value a home, I'm not plucking a figure to win your instruction. I'll show you what comparable homes nearby have sold for, not just what they were listed at, and I'll be honest about where I think the interest sits. Sometimes that's more than you expected. Sometimes it's a little less. Either way, you get the real picture so you can make a decision with your eyes open.

The goal is simple: attract the right buyers in those crucial first weeks, generate genuine interest, and give you the best chance of a strong offer and a sale that actually completes.

If you're thinking about moving this year and want a straight, no-pressure view on what your home would realistically fetch, I'm happy to come round and talk it through. No obligation, just an honest conversation and a proper valuation. Give me a call whenever suits you.

Thinking of moving? Get a free, no-obligation valuation at valuation.michaelbrownsett.exp.uk.com or call me directly on 01274 955 559.