Fall-throughs are still costing home sellers nearly £1 billion a year despite improved efficiencies and the cost-of-living slowing market conditions, research from Home Sale Pack reveals.
Using data from TwentyCI the upfront information platform found that in 2022 there were 312,770 fall-throughs on the UK residential property market. With each fall-through estimated to have cost the seller an average of £3,229, the total cost of fall-throughs was just over £1 billion for the year.
In 2023 higher bank rates meant that the average cost of a fall-through increased by +4.3% to average £3,369 but quieter market conditions meant that the number of fall-throughs dropped -13.8% to 269,728 – but still at an estimated cost of £909 million.
ACTIVITY SURGE
Now with mortgage approval numbers on the rise for five consecutive months in a row fears are growing that this surge in activity could well see the number and total cost of fall-throughs break the £1 billion mark again.
Ruth Beeton (main picture), Co-Founder of Home Sale Pack, says: “Fall-through numbers for 2023 appear to show an improvement for the industry. Less fall-throughs would suggest a more efficient market, but we know that this isn’t really the case.
“Instead, the numbers are down because market activity slowed significantly during 2023, with the cost of living crisis and rising interest rates forcing many would-be buyers to postpone their searches and weather the storm.”
BUYING AMBITIONS
And she adds: “The Bank of England is now showing that mortgage approval numbers are on the rise. This suggests that market activity is about to surge as more and more buyers decide to revisit their buying ambitions.
“This means the real true test of our industry’s ability to keep fall-through numbers at a minimum is now arriving at our doorstep, and unless we make concerted efforts to improve the way the conveyancing and wider home selling process works, I suspect the data will not be pretty.”
