NEW RESEARCH REVEALS THE TOP PROPERTY FEATURES LEADING TO MUCH LONGER SALE TIMES

Properties with features such as a thatched roof, grade listing or annexe are taking much longer to sell, according to new research from leading proptech business, TwentyEA.

The findings show that properties with ground source heat pumps take on average 63% longer to sell, while properties with a thatched roof take 51% longer to sell and properties with oil central heating take 48% longer to sell.

Surprisingly, ‘green’ features are not helping properties sell more quickly, despite research from Knight Frank showing that a third (31%) of home owners said they would prefer a greener home and would be willing to pay more for it if required.

According to TwentyEA, properties, with ground source heat pumps take 40% longer to sell; solar panels take 9% longer to sell; and EV charging points take 2% longer to sell.

Fig 1 Time to Sell

Time to sell  
Feature Feature Non-Feature Time to sell difference
Disability Features 159 93 71.0%
Ground Source Heat Pump 152 93 63.4%
Thatched 139 92 51.1%
Oil 134 90 48.9%
Annexe 132 92 43.5%
Listed 139 97 43.3%
Air Source Heat Pump 131 93 40.9%
Flat 116 89 30.3%
Non-Standard Construction 116 91 27.5%
Private Road 111 96 15.6%
Solar Panels 101 92 9.8%
Solid Fuel 100 92 8.7%
EV Charging Point 95 93 2.2%
Outhouse 92 93 -1.1%
Extensions 91 92 -1.1%
Outbuilding 91 94 -3.2%
Converted Garage 85 93 -8.6%

 

NB Research was conducted in May 2022, across all property sales between September 2019 and August 2021. Please note that this was because of the availability of HMLR data.

The research also reveals that fall through rates are much higher for some property features than average, with flats facing the highest fall through rate (27%), followed by listed properties (19%) and thatched properties (17%)

Fig 2: Fall Through Rates

Feature Feature Non-Feature Fallen Through Rate is more / less by x%
Flat 27.83% 21.90% 27.1%
Listed 26.98% 22.69% 18.9%
Thatched 26.61% 22.68% 17.3%
Disability Features 25.00% 22.78% 9.7%
Non-Standard Construction 24.59% 22.55% 9.0%
Air Source Heat Pump 24.65% 22.77% 8.3%
Private Road 24.14% 22.76% 6.1%
EV Charging Point 24.08% 22.78% 5.7%
Ground Source Heat Pump 23.80% 22.78% 4.5%
Annexe 23.70% 22.76% 4.1%
Solid Fuel 23.03% 22.65% 1.7%
Solar Panels 22.98% 22.66% 1.4%
Outhouse 23.08% 22.77% 1.4%
Oil 22.27% 22.69% -1.9%
Outbuilding 22.31% 22.96% -2.8%
Extensions 22.54% 23.73% -5.0%
Converted Garage 21.42% 22.79% -6.0%

 

Katy Billany, Executive Director of TwentyEA comments: “Our research shows that properties generally tend to sell at around 96% of the initial asking price. Certain property features such as being on a private road, or having an annexe naturally increase the price of a property.

“However, properties with certain features such as being listed, or having an annexe, were sold for an additional 2% under the initial asking price.  In monetary terms, this equates to an average difference of obtaining £11,000 less for the property.

“Some of the items on the list are surprising, as you may assume that they are the type of feature which would make a property more valuable. Properties with ground source heat pumps for example would tend to sell in monetary terms at over £17,000 lower.

“Many of these features of course will also come with increased risks, either financial, or legal in terms of extending the conveyancing process, due to additional compliance checks. This may put some buyers off making an offer in the first place, and the latter would definitely contribute to the increased fall through rates.”

Fig 3 Property Prices

Feature Non-Feature PIPA Difference
Feature Average Sold Price PIPA Average Sold Price PIPA  
       
Ground Source Heat Pump £708,415 93.31% £283,390 95.76% -2.45%
Listed £503,771 93.70% £279,860 95.82% -2.12%
Annexe £567,787 93.73% £277,937 95.84% -2.12%
Thatched £484,896 93.79% £282,963 95.77% -1.98%
Oil £383,937 94.51% £279,837 95.83% -1.32%
Non-Standard Construction £256,427 94.55% £284,815 95.83% -1.28%
Private Road £413,874 94.61% £281,507 95.79% -1.18%
Extensions £332,747 95.35% £249,883 96.16% -0.81%
Solar Panels £355,856 95.29% £281,831 95.78% -0.49%
Solid Fuel £346,418 95.60% £279,872 95.78% -0.18%
Flat £210,344 95.63% £291,685 95.78% -0.15%
Air Source Heat Pump £512,874 95.63% £283,151 95.76% -0.13%
Outbuilding £286,364 95.80% £282,253 95.74% 0.06%
EV Charging Point £420,079 95.90% £283,402 95.76% 0.14%
Outhouse £217,614 95.93% £284,568 95.76% 0.17%
Converted Garage £312,092 96.21% £283,112 95.75% 0.46%
Disability Features £246,084 96.44% £283,484 95.76% 0.68%

 

NB Instead of directly comparing the price of properties with a certain feature against properties without the feature, TwentyEA has measured the Percentage of Initial Price Achieved (PIPA). This is essentially the percentage of the initial asking price that the property sold at.

TwentyEA are experts in the UK home mover market, providing smart, specific and intelligent home mover data and insight to help agents better understand the challenges of the industry – and crucially how to apply this knowledge to leverage brand power. TwentyEA holds the UK’s biggest and richest resource of factual life event data including the largest, most comprehensive source of home mover data compiled from more than 29 billion qualified data points.

TwentyEA’s customer intelligence and engagement solutions leverage data and technology on agent’s behalf, enabling them to connect with target consumers using unique data insights into the key life events that stimulate customer demand. TwentyEA is part of the TwentyCi group of companies who use data science to improve commercial outcomes for clients.

For further information please visit https://news.twentyea.co.uk or email enquiries@twentyea.co.uk

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