The total cost of fall throughs endured by the nation’s homebuyers and sellers fell in Q4, driven by a reduction in volumes, although these aborted sales still cost a total of £244.2m, latest analysis by eXp UK reveals.
The figures show that during Q4, some 70,641 fall throughs took place across the UK property market.
The good news for homebuyers and sellers is that this marked a 16% decline versus the previous quarter, although this figure was still some 13.2% higher versus Q4 2023.
However, the average cost of a fall through did increase in Q4 2024, hitting £3,456, up from an average cost of £3,447 the previous year.
TOTAL COST DROPS
Despite the increase seen in the average cost of a fall through, eXp UK’s analysis shows that the total cost of fall throughs endured by the nation’s homebuyers and sellers fell by 15.8% on a quarterly basis, with this reduction driven by the lower volume of fall throughs seen during the quarter.
However, as with fall through volumes themselves, this total cost to the nation still sat some 16.8% higher than Q4 2023, totalling an eye-watering £244.2m.
DOWNWARD TRENDS
Adam Day, Head of eXp UK, says: “The level of transactions subject to a fall through trended downwards during the final three months of last year and, as a result, the total cost endured by the nation’s homebuyers and sellers also followed suit.
“Whilst this is certainly good news on the face of it, it’s not unusual to observe such trends during the latter stages of the year, purely due to the lower number of transactions in the pipeline as the market winds down ahead of the Christmas break.
“With the impending stamp duty deadline bringing a heightened sense of activity during the first quarter of this year, the likelihood is that fall through levels will climb as transaction levels increase.
“With the stamp duty deadline also bringing an increase in costs to the nation’s buyers, we could well see a spike in transactions collapsing from those who fail to complete before the deadline expires.”
