Homeowners losing £33,000 and properties on market for longer due to overpricing crisis, new study reveals

Homeowners are losing out on an average of £33,597 and properties are languishing on the market for longer, because estate agents are overpricing.

That’s according to a new data study which revealed 36.2% of all homes put up for sale last year required at least one price cut before keys were handed over - up from 8.1% in 2023.

The research is part of the Property Markdown Index 2026, collated by leading cash-buying service We Buy Any Home using data powered by property insight specialists Tytl.

The penalty for getting the launch price wrong is, on average, an extra £33,597 off the eventual sold price.

Every additional price drop costs the seller around £12,000 and adds an extra 10 weeks if a property is reduced three times or more.

Figures show Wales was the hardest hit region in 2025, followed by London and the East Midlands.

Elliot Castle, chief executive of We Buy Any Home, insists the figures should serve as a “wake-up call” for sellers and agents up and down the country.

He said: “House prices surged in 2020 and 2021 and many homeowners expected this trend to continue. But demand has softened and anyone with a home on the market at the moment knows the reality - it’s difficult out there.

“Our research shows optimistic estate agents are taking instructions and letting vendors see the realities of the market themselves, which often means a huge impact in the eventual agreed sale price.

“Homes that are overpriced are languishing on the market for longer than those that are priced correctly to begin with - and it’s the sellers who are paying for it, not the agents.”

The figures are drawn from analysis of 887,882 completed home sales across England and Wales from 2023 to 2025, and based on the study’s national median property value of £298,500

Wales is the hardest-hit region, with an average change of -5.2% between the first listed price and final sold price in 2025, and homes sitting on the market for an average of 194 days.

There’s better news for those in the North East, which bucks the trend to stand as the most resilient market across England and Wales.

There the average discount is just -2.9%, with just 28% of homes being slashed in price before a seller is found. The average time on market is 171 days.

Meanwhile, in London around 39% of properties were reduced in value from their first listing in 2025, with a -5% gap between the original asking price and eventual sold price.

In the East Midlands 37% of homes needed a price change with an average gap of -4.8%. It’s a similar picture in the East of England where the average gap sits at -4.7%.

The South West, with a gap of -4.6%, completes the top five.

Nationally, properties that needed three or more reductions sold for an average 13.3% below launch price and an average of £51,026 off the initial asking price.

By comparison, a listing that didn’t need to be dropped in price sold for an average of 2.5% below the asking price.

Elliot added: “Our research shows overpricing is now a very common, and costly, mistake.

“The first three weeks on the market are crucial. That’s when listings attract the most attention online and buyers who are waiting for something new are ready to spring into action. If you price too high, you miss that window.

“Price reductions also weaken your negotiating position. When buyers see a reduction they assume there’s further room to haggle.

"It’s time we said goodbye to optimistic valuations and instead listened to what’s really happening in the property market today.”

Tom Neall, COO of Tytl, said: “This report clearly shows the real challenges being faced in the property market, but there are also subtler problems that overpricing creates.

“When a property lingers, buyers grow suspicious and perceived value drops. The home becomes stale in the eyes of the market and no amount of subsequent price cutting fully restores that initial excitement a new listing generates.”

He added: “This is exactly why getting an accurate read on the market from the outset is so valuable. Those using Tytl have a far sharper steer on local market conditions, which means they can price properties accurately from day one rather than discovering the true figure through weeks of costly trial and error.

“Those first few weeks are unforgiving, price right and the market responds; price wrong and you pay for it.”

The most overpriced UK town in 2025 was Colyton in Devon, where the gap between the average first listed price and the eventual sold price is 16.02%.

Church Stretton in the West Midlands, Etchingham and Lyndhurst in the South East and Amlwch in Wales complete the top five.

To find out the cost of a delayed sale to you, visit www.webuyanyhome.com/2026-property-markdown-index to try out our new online calculator.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Methodology

This analysis draws on UK residential property market data spanning three calendar years, grouped by the year a property first appeared in the dataset (2023, 2024, 2025). Each record includes postcode, region, property type, number of bedrooms, pricing history, achieved sale price, and the relevant marketing and completion dates.
Records with implausible values (prices below £10,000 or above £50m) and those missing a completion date or achieved sale price were excluded. All year-on-year comparisons are based on the calendar year of sale completion rather than the year a property entered the market. Completed sales attributed to 2023 are lower in volume than 2024 or 2025, reflecting more limited coverage of properties that first came to market before mid-2023.

If you require any further information, or would like to interview Elliot or Tom, please contact Johnny Greaney at Marco Richards PR on johnny@marcorichards.co.uk or 07816 523 939.