One in three house sales collapse… not at Leonard Gray
One of the most worrying elements of buying and selling a house is the concern that the whole thing might fall through. At Leonard Gray, we go to great lengths to ensure that a chain not only remains intact, but also that the time between finding a buyer and exchange of contracts is reduced to the absolute minimum.
Period |
Market |
Leonard Gray |
Half Year Totals |
29.84% |
7.41% |
These results show an improvement on our 2011 position when we were achieving a 9% fall through rate, compared to the market abort rate of 29%.
Figures are calculated by measuring the stage between agreed offer, and successful exchange of contracts.
Every single property that fell through, was later resold successfully by Leonard Gray
Andrew Hunt, Branch Manager adds “Telling a client that their sale has fallen through is one of the worst parts of our job and we’re very proud of the fact that it doesn’t happen often. We were delighted to resell each and every one of our houses that experienced an abortive sale in the first half of 2012. One property even sold for a higher price.”
Quarterly breakdown
Period |
Market |
Leonard Gray |
Q1 2012 |
29.94% |
3.7% |
Q2 2012 |
29.74% |
11.11% |
What are the common reasons a house sale falls through?
According to the House Sale Fall Through Index for the first half of 2012, 29% of abandoned transactions were chiefly the result of sellers withdrawing properties from the market post offer. Buyers pulling out of the purchase was the second most common reason (23%).
Sales also fell through because of a chain collapsing (9% of failed transactions), unfavourable surveys (8%) and sellers withdrawing properties for sale and deciding to rent them instead (6%).