Off market sales soar

Last year a record 135,720 homes sold 'off-market', in other words without being publicly advertised on property portals, social media, in the newspaper or in estate agents’ windows.

In London, where the market has been more sluggish since the pandemic began, off-market sales have become even more popular.

If the final quarter last year, 1 in 5 homes sold in London were sold in this way and 1 in 10 nationwide, these figures are from Hamptons. Of the London properties that sold for more than £1m, a quarter were not widely advertised.

It’s a sellers’ market. In December 2021 Rightmove reported that on average, each estate agent had 14 homes to sell - half the number for the same period the previous year.

•   Off-market sales have historically been used where vendors have privacy or security issues and were typically most common for large and expensive houses.

•   During the pandemic, increasing numbers of vendors in highly sought-after locations, such as the London commuter belt, have gone off-market to tap into red-hot demand from buyers faced with record stock shortages.

•   In the age of Covid19, people don’t want loads of people traipsing round their homes.

•   Vendors use this method to test pricing when they don’t want to leave a digital footprint of any price changes, when potential buyers could be put off by asking embarrassing or searching questions.

•   Off-market sales can allow owners to sell quickly at a high price – if their property doesn’t attract a buyer this way, vendors are then able to advertise more widely at a later date.

Henry Prior is a buying agent who acquires property for clients. Around a third of the properties that he bought last year were off market. Prior was recently interviewed by Winifred Robinson on BBC Radio4’s consumer affairs programme You and Yours.

IF A PROPERTY IS SOLD WITHOUT A LISTING, WILL AN ESTATE AGENT STILL BE INVOLVED?

“Yes, an estate agent is often still involved in the sale. Despite the fact there is no law in this country that obliges us to buy or sell a property through an estate agent, 95% of vendors still retain an agent.

“Not everybody wants their personal business trawled across the internet and indexed for eternity by the likes of Google. Throughout my professional career going back 30-40 years, there have always been people prepared to sell off market but this has increased for a number of reasons.

“It may be that you don’t want your employer or future employer to know that you’re relocating and have to deal with the implications. Sorry to say that some people don’t want their partners to be aware of their plans, or they fear their kids might be unsettled at the thought of moving out of the family home."

IF YOU WANT TO SELL WITHOUT LISTING PUBLICLY, HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT IT?

“Estate agents do have access to the qualified applications and they’re able to place properties directly or via their representatives or buying agents. It’s always worth talking to estate agents in the area you’re looking to move to. They will know of properties they have already visited, valued or about to come on to the market. Many will have properties ready to go."

SO IS IT A WIN-WIN FOR BOTH BUYERS AND SELLERS?

"Without the glare of publicity both buyers and sellers can move on with their lives. However, sellers don’t always know whether they might have achieved a higher price on the open market."

Listen to the full interview here.