South East sees most sellers relisting
New research from Property DriveBuy reveals that sellers who are re-entering the market are reducing their asking price by an average of £5,300 to try and snag a buyer, but in London this reduction climbs as high as £27,000, while the South East is the region where most sellers are relisting this year having failed to find a buyer in 2025.
Property DriveBuy analysed current for-sale listings, focusing on properties that have been relisted, or brought “back to market”* in 2026, to reveal which regions see the most sellers having to re-enter the market and what price hit they take when doing so in order to entice a buyer.
The analysis has revealed that sellers in England who are relisting their property are doing so with a discount of -£5,322 when compared to comparable properties listed in the same area.
Relisting sellers in London are taking the biggest hit, coming back to the market with an average discount of -£27,192,followed by sellers in the North East (-£3,781) and South West (-£3,319).
However, it’s sellers in the South East region who are most likely to have to come back to market in order to secure a sale. The region accounts for 25% of England’s relisted properties, with the second-highest proportion located in the East of England (14%), followed closely by the South West (13%).
Why do sellers have to relist?
One of the most common reasons for having to relist, regardless of the market conditions, is fall-throughs. Sellers accept an offer and take the property off the market, but then the buyer pulls out. This could be due to a change of heart, a broken chain, unsuccessful mortgage approval, or a survey that returns undesirable results.
Today, however, a common reason for properties being relisted is that sellers who originally entered the market in 2025 but failed to secure a buyer due to subdued market conditions are returning to take advantage of an increase in market activity following the end of Autumn Budget uncertainty, a December interest rate cut, and the usual seasonal surge in activity following the quieter Christmas period
Steve Foreman, Founder and CEO of Property DriveBuy, commented:
“It’s not unusual for sellers to step away from the market and come back at a later point. In some cases a sale may have fallen through, while in others personal circumstances may have forced a pause. But more often than not, sellers simply didn’t see the level of interest they were expecting the first time around.
After sitting on the market for months with little movement, many relist at a lower asking price to try and re-energise their listing, or take a break altogether and return later at a reduced level in the hope of finally securing a buyer.
While 2025 was a quieter year overall, we’re already seeing momentum return in 2026, and with that a wave of sellers who were unsuccessful last year looking to move again. For those sellers, marketing really matters. It’s no longer enough to just list a property and wait. Good photography, clear floorplans and strong, informative listings all play a big role in driving interest.
Equally important is making sure the property is actually being seen by the right buyers. The major portals like Zoopla and Rightmove remain important, but they’re no longer the only route to market. New technology is starting to change how buyers find homes, and Property DriveBuy is a good example of that.
Our geolocation search app lets buyers see what’s for sale around them in real time, or along a walking or driving route. It’s a far more natural way to search and helps surface homes that traditional postcode-based searches can easily miss.”
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