Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Property Industry Eye. Read the original article for full details.
Survey Highlights Growing Trend of Overvaluing in UK Property Market
A new survey by GetAgent has found that overvaluing properties to win instructions is becoming more common among estate agents. According to the research, 95% of agents have observed competitors providing what they consider unrealistic valuations.
The survey also revealed that 89% of agents have lost a potential instruction to a rival offering a higher valuation. Two-thirds (67%) of respondents believe that overvaluing to secure instructions has increased over the past year, while 28% said the practice has remained broadly unchanged.
Factors Driving Overvaluing
The findings highlight several pressures influencing agents’ behaviour. Of those surveyed, 33% believe that sellers favouring the highest valuation is the main reason for overvaluing. Competition between agents was cited by 28%, while 22% pointed to pressure to increase market share. Internal listing targets were identified by 11% of respondents.
Additionally, 89% of agents believe that sellers place too much importance on the highest valuation. The survey also found that 95% of agents think initially overvaluing a property could harm a seller’s chances of achieving the best outcome.
What Sellers Should Consider
When selecting an agent, a third (33%) of those surveyed said sellers should prioritise the percentage of asking price achieved. Meanwhile, 28% pointed to an agent’s track record of selling similar properties locally, and 22% identified the average time taken to sell. Overall, 83% of agents selected one of these three performance measures as something sellers should focus on when choosing an agent.
These findings underline the competitive pressures in the UK property market and may be of particular interest to letting agents and inventory clerks monitoring trends in property valuations and instructions.
Source: Property Industry Eye