Homeowners in Manchester are overestimating the value of their property by an average of ten percent, according to new research.
Property owners in the Manchester postal area were asked to estimate the value of their property before it underwent a formal valuation by an independent estate agent. Comparison found that figures given by the homeowners were an average of ten percent higher than the figures given by the estate agents.
Danny Luke, managing director of ‘we buy any house’ company Quick Move Now, said: “It’s not surprising that homeowners are tending to value their properties on the high side. Since the introduction of the stamp duty holiday back in 2020, the news has been full of stories about rising property prices. Now that the market is starting to cool a little, homeowner expectations are remaining overoptimistically high.
“When it comes to selling a property, it is important to have a realistic idea of what your property is really worth, which is why we would always recommend getting a number of valuations from estate agents with in-depth knowledge of the local property market. Figures suggest that initially overpricing your property could mean it takes twice as long to sell. If your property doesn’t attract much attention in the first two weeks of marketing, it can quickly become stale and ‘undesirable’ in the eyes of buyers. This is likely to lead to multiple price reductions, making you likely to walk away with significantly less than you would have done if you had priced it realistically from the start.”
Quick Move Now compared homeowner valuations with estate agent valuations across the whole of England and Wales. Homeowners in Telford, Romford and Harrow valued their properties most accurately, overvaluing their properties by an average of six percent. Those in Llandrindod Wells were the least accurate, overvaluing their properties by an average of 20 percent. Overall, homeowners in England and Wales overvalue their properties by an average of eight percent.
