Homeowners trying to sell their properties have been warned they may still be pricing their homes as though the pandemic property boom never ended.
A London estate agent says many sellers are basing their asking prices on what homes were achieving in 2021 and 2022, when demand was high, stock was limited and buyers were often competing hard for available properties.
But experts say the market has changed, with buyers now having far more choice and less pressure to rush into offers.
That means homes priced too ambitiously from the start are more likely to be passed over, leaving sellers at risk of missing the strongest period of buyer interest.
The warning comes after new analysis by Zoopla, covering more than two million property listings between 2023 and 2026, found that 44% of all homes listed for sale in the UK failed to find a buyer.
The financial impact can also be significant. Zoopla found that the average home sold in the first quarter of 2026 achieved a price 3.5% below its original asking price, equivalent to around £18,800 less than the figure first advertised.
Josh Endacott, an estate agent from London firm 1st Avenue, said: “The data paints a really troubling picture for sellers who are going to market with inflated expectations.
“We are seeing a market where buyers have more choice than at any point in over a decade, and yet too many sellers are still pricing as if it were 2022 or 2021, when demand was at its absolute peak, and buyers were competing fiercely for every available property.”
According to Rightmove, the number of homes available for sale across the UK has reached its highest level since 2014, giving buyers more choice and making it easier for them to ignore properties they believe are overpriced.
This is a sharp change from the pandemic-era market, when many sellers could command strong prices because buyers had fewer options.
Now, estate agents say some homeowners are still anchoring their asking price to what they wanted to achieve several years ago, rather than what current buyer demand can support.
Endacott said: “The first four weeks of any listing are absolutely critical.
“It’s when buyer interest is at its highest and when the most serious purchasers are actively comparing properties.
“If your price is out of step with the market during that window, you lose those buyers, and you are unlikely to get them back.”
Zoopla found that 41.8% of all UK property sales happen within the first four weeks of a home being listed. Once a property reaches 12 weeks on the market without a sale, the probability of finding a buyer drops to just 14.5%.
Endacott says the longer a home sits unsold, the harder it can become to generate fresh interest, even if the seller later reduces the price.
“What makes this particularly damaging is the stigma that builds around a property that has been sitting on the market for months,” Endacott said.
“Buyers start to wonder what is wrong with it, why nobody else has made an offer.
“We see sellers making the same mistake repeatedly. People base their asking price on what they need for their next move, or on what a neighbour got three years ago, rather than what the current market will actually support.
“That kind of thinking costs them time, money, and enormous amounts of stress.
“Our advice is always to go to market at the right price from day one.
“A well-priced home will generate more viewings, more offers, and ultimately a better result than a home that is gradually reduced over weeks and months.”
