Brexit blues price drops and agent fees costing home sellers thousands on their sale – here are the most expensive areas

November 3, 2019

The latest research by estate agent comparison website, GetAgent.co.uk, has revealed the true cost of selling your home in current market conditions and the numbers show, it’s costing British home sellers an average of £21,721.

GetAgent.co.uk looked at the current cost of selling across the UK based on the average estate agent fee on the average price achieved in each location, but with Brexit seeing homeowners across the nation sell for below asking price, GetAgent also factored in the depreciation in property values between the asking and sold price due to political uncertainty.

The data shows that with an average fee of 1.25%, UK home sellers are forking out £4,568 in fees. However, with the average seller in Britain only achieving 95.5% of asking price, they are having to adjust their price expectations to a further loss of £17,154. In total, the cost of selling in the current landscape is hitting £21,721.

The most expensive areas for a current sale

This cost differs across the UK market and with London and the surrounding areas hit far harder by the Brexit market slowdown, the costs of trying to sell in the current market are far higher.

Westminster tops the table where sellers are achieving just 90.9% of asking price, a reduction of £284,528 in property values coupled with a further cost of £50,347 for the average agent fee of 1.8%. As a result, it’s costing home sellers in the borough an eye-watering £334,874 to sell now.

Kensington and Chelsea (£210,521) and Camden (£144,439) are also home to some of the highest fees coupled with the biggest reductions in asking price.

Windsor and Maidenhead is the most costly market outside of London with the average fee of 1.5% costing £16,133, coupled with an asking price adjustment of £83,285, totaling £99,418.

Runnymede (£83,447), Elmbridge (£69,601) and Chiltern (£61,674) join a host of other London boroughs as some of the most costly markets for UK home sellers at present.

The least expensive

While GetAgent’s data shows that no area of the UK is currently enjoying above asking price home sales, the current cost of selling isn’t as crippling in every area of the UK.

With the average fee of 1.3% costing just £2,589 to sell a home, and sellers achieving a healthy 98.6% of asking price, Sheffield is the most affordable market for a current property sale, totalling just £5,385.

Kingston upon Hull (£5,903), Salford (£6,098), Torfaen (£6,652) and Sandwell (£6,926) are also amongst the most affordable areas to sell in current market conditions.

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:  

“Finding a good agent has always been about the optimum balance of achieving a good price and the fee they will charge to do so and one of the hang ups of the online sector in particular, has been that while you pay a low upfront fee, you also secure a far lower price, making it more expensive all in all.

In any market, home sellers always tend to be over optimistic in their asking price expectations and so achieving below this benchmark isn’t just Brexit related, however, at the moment we’re seeing many have to accept as much as an eight to ten percent reduction in order to secure a sale which is far from normal.

All things considered, selling your home in the current market can be an expensive and drawn out endeavour and ensuring you instruct the best agent, at the best price, is the best way to maximise your property’s profitability.”

Most expensive areas to sell your home
Location
Average asking price
Average price achieved (%)
Average price achieved (£)
Price reduction
Average fee %
Average fee on price achieved (£)
Price reduction + agent fee
Westminster
£3,135,427
90.9%
£2,850,899
£284,528
1.8%
£50,347
£334,874
Kensington and Chelsea
£2,149,513
92.0%
£1,976,665
£172,849
1.9%
£37,673
£210,521
Camden
£1,571,863
92.4%
£1,451,911
£119,952
1.7%
£24,486
£144,439
Windsor and Maidenhead
£1,179,261
92.9%
£1,095,976
£83,285
1.5%
£16,133
£99,418
Hammersmith and Fulham
£1,150,134
93.0%
£1,069,902
£80,232
1.7%
£18,153
£98,385
Richmond upon Thames
£983,755
92.8%
£912,660
£71,094
1.4%
£13,231
£84,325
Runnymede
£1,145,477
93.9%
£1,076,135
£69,342
1.3%
£14,105
£83,447
Islington
£841,748
92.2%
£776,180
£65,568
1.5%
£11,806
£77,374
Barnet
£1,021,581
94.0%
£960,433
£61,148
1.5%
£14,645
£75,793
Wandsworth
£859,113
92.8%
£797,461
£61,652
1.6%
£12,616
£74,268
Elmbridge
£987,353
94.2%
£929,973
£57,380
1.3%
£12,221
£69,601
Southwark
£789,201
92.9%
£733,529
£55,672
1.6%
£11,841
£67,513
Brent
£700,242
92.4%
£646,871
£53,371
1.5%
£9,934
£63,305
Chiltern
£852,061
94.0%
£801,171
£50,890
1.3%
£10,784
£61,674
Lambeth
£746,513
93.5%
£698,045
£48,468
1.6%
£11,213
£59,682
Britain
£383,750
95.5%
£366,596
£17,154
1.25%
£4,568
£21,721
 
Least expensive areas to sell your home
Location
Average asking price
Average price achieved (%)
Average price achieved (£)
Price reduction
Average fee %
Average fee on price achieved (£)
Price reduction + agent fee
Sheffield
£195,754
98.6%
£192,958
£2,796
1.3%
£2,589
£5,385
Kingston upon Hull
£118,541
96.1%
£113,896
£4,644
1.1%
£1,259
£5,903
Salford
£201,584
98.0%
£197,610
£3,974
1.1%
£2,124
£6,098
Torfaen
£218,032
98.3%
£214,338
£3,694
1.4%
£2,958
£6,652
Sandwell
£175,768
97.3%
£171,032
£4,736
1.3%
£2,190
£6,926
Halton
£172,909
97.1%
£167,858
£5,051
1.2%
£2,008
£7,059
Manchester
£212,059
97.7%
£207,100
£4,958
1.2%
£2,447
£7,405
Blaenau Gwent
£114,654
94.7%
£108,628
£6,026
1.6%
£1,779
£7,805
Ashfield
£196,107
97.2%
£190,706
£5,400
1.3%
£2,530
£7,930
Wigan
£184,109
96.6%
£177,819
£6,290
1.0%
£1,802
£8,093
Nottingham
£218,437
97.6%
£213,171
£5,266
1.3%
£2,854
£8,120
Liverpool
£153,689
96.1%
£147,622
£6,067
1.4%
£2,066
£8,133
Tameside
£183,105
96.7%
£177,029
£6,076
1.2%
£2,104
£8,180
Birmingham
£240,406
97.7%
£234,899
£5,507
1.3%
£3,047
£8,554
Caerphilly
£171,123
96.1%
£164,503
£6,620
1.3%
£2,082
£8,701
Britain
£383,750
95.5%
£366,596
£17,154
1.25%
£4,568
£21,721

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