New Home by Christmas!
Santa may be enjoying some well deserved rest and relaxation on a lovely Welsh beach, but now is the time for homeowners wanting to move in time for his next visit to be taking decisive action! With the average time to sell a home in Wales being 68 days you may feel you have plenty of time but unfortunately the average time for conveyancers to complete a transaction from the point of sale agreed is now 154 days! Meaning for those just coming to market now it might mean a move in the New Year and of course for those already on the market but struggling to sell then a change of strategy now is essential. Increased Activity The Principality have reported an increase of transactions in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period of 2024 of around 20% and rightmove continue to publish data supporting anincrease in overall buyer demand. However, they have also indicated an increase in the number of homes coming to the market of 11% year on year. Despite the increase in buyer demand generally across the UK and the increase in transactions across Wales the average time to sell remains high and this is leading to an increased level of choice for buyers, making the market incredibly price sensitive. Interestingly Rightmove reports that those houses coming to market and receiving enquiries within the first 24 hours are 22% more likely to sell than those that do not receive immediate interest. Falling Average Prices The increase in competition that is outpacing the increase in buyer activity is reflected in the data shared by the Principality in the quarter one price index, which shows that average house prices in Pembrokeshire are down 4.8% year on year, while Carmarthenshire is down 2.3% in the first quarter of 2025, with Ceredigion down an eyewatering 10.1% in the same period. However, the increase in transaction levels and overall buyer activity can give us all some reassurance and when you monitor the local markets closely you can see that properties that are coming to the market now at sensible prices are being sold and even those that have previously struggled are able to attract fresh interest when marketed well. So Why Isn’t My Home Selling? (it isn’t always your price) We are aware that there are lots of homeowners who have been trying to sell their home now for far more than the average 68 days and if you are one of these unlucky home movers then you are probably wondering why? There are a whole host of reasons why your home may not be selling and we would encourage anyone in this position to review these factors before deciding to adjust their marketing price. Here are just four of the factors you should consider before changing your price; Quality of photography. In this digital age home searching is not immune to our decreasing attention spans, with the swipe right culture applying to home searches too. You only get a few seconds to make a good impression on apps like Rightmove and OnTheMarket. It is therefore really important that your photos are the best quality and eye catching. Although the tried and tested front of house photo is a great option it is also a good idea to mix it up a little and if you have a feature that is sure to be a real crowd pleaser then you should consider using this as your lead image. We like to review the performance of our adverts weekly and if needed rotate around the images we are using. We typically have around 60-80 images on file although we don’t use them all at once this means we have a stock library we can use to keep our adverts fresh. Floor plans and land plans. Sounds basic but believe it or not some agents still do not include these as standard. If you don’t have one, speak to your agent ASAP and get one added to your adverts. Social media exposure. These days most agents will have a Facebook page, but many of them do not leverage them properly to get the best reach and exposure for their clients. Using a multi-platform strategy that includes, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube agents can reach tens of thousands of potential buyers. We consider this a great way to reach a more ‘passive buyer’, someone who is interested in moving but is not quite at the stage where they are checking the property portals twice daily for new listings. It is also a great way to show potential buyers properties that are outside their current search criteria. When I started in agency there was no computer searches and as an agent we would always tell buyers about properties in the next village over or one just outside their budget, the likes of Rightmove cannot do this, but we have found by using our tried and tested techniques we are able to replicate this through our social media campaigns. Property Videos. Professionally produced video tours are a useful way to showcase a home and are loved by property buyers, who say they help them to get an honest feeling for how the property flows and for the ‘feel’ of the home. In addition to sharing videos on our website and on property portals we have found they are a great tool to use in combination with our social media strategies, with increased reach and engagement from video on many platforms. By reviewing your current marketing position and implementing a detailed plan it is possible to revitalise a floundering campaign. We have had some recent success with houses that had been on the market for some time with other agents and thought you would be interested to see some examples of our success stories. The two examples above show how we have generated results for our clients. Both properties had been on the market for an extended time with other agents