What If The Best Time To Sell Is When Everyone Else Is Waiting?
Many homeowners are waiting for autumn, lower mortgage rates or a more certain market before selling. But when everyone waits for the same moment, competition can arrive with them. Sometimes moving before the crowd creates the better opportunity.
What If The Best Time To Sell Is When Everyone Else Is Waiting?
There is a sentence estate agents hear constantly:
“We’re going to wait and see what happens.”
Wait until autumn.
Wait for mortgage rates to fall.
Wait until prices improve.
Wait until there are more buyers.
Individually, those decisions can make perfect sense.
But there is something homeowners often overlook.
What happens when thousands of other sellers are waiting for exactly the same thing?
The Market Already Has More Competition
Rightmove's August House Price Index shows there are currently around 65 properties available per estate agency branch.
That is the highest level of available stock for this time of year in 12 years.
Buyers have choice.
And yet buyer demand has recently increased by 5%.
That creates an interesting market. There are buyers actively looking, but sellers need to work harder to earn their attention.
Source: rightmove.co.uk
Waiting For A Better Market Can Create A Different Problem
Imagine mortgage rates improve later this year.
More buyers could enter the market.
Great news if you are selling.
But improved confidence could also encourage thousands of homeowners who have been waiting to do exactly the same thing.
Suddenly your home launches alongside more competition.
The same principle applies to the traditional autumn market.
September often feels like the obvious time to sell because holidays are ending, schools are returning and normal routines resume.
But obvious opportunities attract other sellers too.
Sometimes the advantage is not having the biggest market. It is having less competition for the buyers who already exist.
There Is Another Side To Waiting
If you are selling and buying again, you participate in the market twice.
This is incredibly important.
Suppose your £400,000 home increases by 5%.
You have theoretically gained £20,000.
Fantastic.
But if the £600,000 home you want to buy also increases by 5%, it has become £30,000 more expensive.
Your gap has actually increased.
The opposite can also happen in a softer market.
Your own property may achieve slightly less, but the more expensive home you are buying could also become more negotiable.
This is why movers should be careful about obsessing over achieving the absolute peak value for the property they are selling.
The number that really matters is often the cost of the entire move.
Stop Trying To Predict The Perfect Month
Nobody knows exactly what property prices or mortgage rates will do next.
The latest official ONS data shows average UK house prices increased 2.0% annually to £272,000, while Rightmove's more immediate asking price data shows new seller asking prices falling 2.0% during August.
Both can be true.
They measure different things at different stages of the market.
And that demonstrates exactly why waiting for one headline to announce “NOW IS THE TIME TO MOVE” is rarely a useful strategy.
Your circumstances matter more.
A Better Question To Ask
Instead of:
“Is now a good time to sell?”
Ask:
“Can I make the move I want to make now?”
What could your property realistically achieve?
How much equity would that give you?
What would your onward purchase cost?
What would your mortgage payment look like?
How much competition exists for the type of property you are selling?
And crucially, what negotiating position could you have on the property you want to buy?
Now you are analysing an actual move rather than trying to predict the entire UK housing market.
The Avenue View
We don't believe homeowners should be encouraged to sell simply because an estate agent wants another instruction.
Equally, we don't believe people should automatically postpone a move because the market does not feel perfect.
There is almost never a perfect market.
There are simply different opportunities within different markets.
Sometimes selling into a rising market makes sense.
Sometimes buying into a softer market creates the bigger opportunity.
And sometimes getting ahead of the crowd is considerably more valuable than waiting for everyone else to feel confident.
The starting point is understanding the numbers behind your move.
Find out what your property could achieve today:
Frequently Asked Questions
Is autumn a good time to sell a house?
Autumn can be an active period because normal routines return after the summer holidays. However, more sellers may also enter the market, so your local competition and buyer demand matter more than the season alone.
Should I wait for mortgage rates to fall before moving?
Not necessarily. Lower mortgage rates could improve affordability, but they may also increase buyer demand and competition. Your current borrowing position and the overall cost of your move should be considered.
Should I wait for house prices to rise before selling?
Remember that if you are selling to buy another property, movements in the value of your onward purchase matter too. A higher sale price does not automatically mean your overall move becomes cheaper.
Are house prices currently rising or falling?
The latest ONS data records annual UK house price growth of 2.0%, while Rightmove recorded a 2.0% monthly fall in new seller asking prices in August. The figures measure different stages of the market and underline why individual moving decisions should not be based on one headline statistic.
How do I know whether now is the right time for me to move?
Start by understanding your property's likely value, available equity, onward purchase budget and mortgage affordability. From there, you can judge the feasibility of the entire move rather than trying to predict the market.
DON'T WAIT FOR THE MARKET. UNDERSTAND YOUR MOVE.