Six months of data. One clear lesson. And what August's market is telling Sittingbourne sellers right now.

September is here. The autumn market has started, we're already seeing enquiries pick up and applicant registrations increase just two days in. If you're thinking about selling, or if your home has been on the market without the result you were hoping for, this is worth reading properly.

Because six months of local data and August's market in particular, tells a story that every seller in this area deserves to hear honestly.

What six months of data actually shows

Since February we've been tracking performance across every agent operating in ME9, ME10 and ME13 — asking price achieved, speed to completion, and how many agreed sales actually make it to exchange.

The headline across that period is consistent and it hasn't changed once.

The sellers achieving the best outcomes, completing above asking price, moving faster, and seeing their sales actually exchange rather than fall through are the ones whose properties were priced correctly from day one. Not ambitiously. Not to test the market. Correctly.

Harrisons sellers have completed at above their original asking price in every single month since February. We're the only agent in the local market this has been true of, every other agent in the data is completing below asking price on average, some significantly so.

That's not a boast. It's just what six months of Land Registry data shows. And it matters because it tells you something important about what's actually driving outcomes in this market.

August — what the market showed us

August across Sittingbourne and Faversham:

274 new instructions came to market. 171 sales agreed. That's a conversion rate of around 62% of new stock finding a buyer — which sounds reasonable until you look at what's sitting underneath it.

There are currently 1,366 properties available across the two areas. 171 sales agreed from 1,366 available is a market-wide conversion of around 12.5%. The correctly priced properties are moving. The rest are contributing to a growing pool of stock that buyers are scrolling past.

148 price reductions happened across the market in August. Some agents saw average reduction depths of 8%, 9%, even 12% on properties that cut. That's not a small correction — on a £350,000 property a 12% reduction is £42,000 off the original asking price. And that reduction comes after weeks or months of sitting on the market, low views, and dwindling buyer interest. The outcome is worse than if the property had launched at the right price to begin with.

Our Rightmove views across August averaged 71.1 per property per day — 31% above the local patch average of 54. Agents carrying significantly more stock than us are generating fewer views per property. More listings doesn't mean more attention. Correctly priced, well-presented properties attract buyers. Everything else gets scrolled past.

And the number that matters most from August: Harrisons sellers completed at 100.45% of their original asking price, above asking, on average. The local market average was completing at 2.81% below asking. On a £350,000 property that gap is £9,800. That's the difference between correct pricing and optimistic pricing, playing out in real completions with real sellers.

Why this keeps happening and what drives the gap

Across our local market, properties are being listed on average at around 2% above what independent valuation benchmarks, the same tools mortgage lenders and surveyors use, say they're worth. Some agents are listing at 4%, 6%, even higher.

What happens next is predictable every time.

Buyers do their homework before they book a viewing. They know what comparable properties sold for. They know what the street is worth. When a listing looks ambitious before they've even clicked through, many don't click at all. The seller sees low views and assumes the market is quiet. The market isn't quiet. The price is filtering buyers out before they've seen the property.

The buyers who do enquire know they have leverage. They negotiate harder. They offer less. And because the property has been sitting for weeks, sometimes months the seller's position weakens with every week that passes. It ends in the same place: a price reduction that costs more than correct pricing would have, and a result below what was needed.

We price our properties at 0.46% below independent valuation benchmarks. Not because we're cautious because this is where buyers compete rather than negotiate. Six months of data shows exactly what that produces.

Our exchange rate across the last quarter was 68.2%, second highest of the 12 agents tracked. Our fall-through rate was 17.2% (5.8% on reservation agreements) joint third lowest in a field where some agents see nearly half their agreed sales collapse before exchange. Sales that stick. Sellers who actually move.

The autumn window and what to do about it now

Every September brings a wave of sellers wanting to complete before Christmas. It's achievable but the timeline is tighter than most people realise.

Sale agreed to exchange is currently taking 120 to 132 days even in the fastest-moving sales. That means going on the market now, finding a buyer in the next few weeks, and still realistically looking at early January for completion, unless the conveyancing moves efficiently.

Two things that will meaningfully speed this up:

Instruct your conveyancer before your sale is agreed, not after. Most sellers wait until they have a buyer. That wait costs 2-3 weeks before the legal process has even started. We're happy to help with quotes from conveyancers we recommend based on how they perform, not what they charge. The £200 saving from going with a high-volume firm has cost buyers 4-6 additional weeks more times than we can count.

If your property is leasehold, the moment you go sale agreed, ask your conveyancer to request the management pack immediately. Don't wait to be asked. Management packs routinely take 4-6 weeks and they sit directly on the critical path to exchange. Getting ahead of this one thing can save weeks off your completion date.

A note for sellers who haven't yet found a buyer

If your property has been on the market for a while without the result you were hoping for, I want to be straightforward because I think that's more respectful than a vague conversation about market conditions.

The data is consistent across six months. Properties priced correctly from day one sell faster and achieve more than those that launch high and reduce. Every reduction resets buyer perception. It signals to any buyer who engages that the property wasn't worth what it was listed at and that hands them negotiating leverage before the conversation has even started.

The autumn market is moving. The buyers are there we're seeing it already this week. They're just concentrating on the correctly priced properties.

If you'd like an honest conversation about your home, your current position, and what the right strategy looks like from here, I'm happy to have it. No pressure, no agenda.

Reply to this email, or DM me VALUE and we'll find a time. 🏡

Chris Ellis — Director, Harrisons Homes

Sittingbourne | Faversham | Isle of Sheppey

FELLOW NAEA & ARLA Propertymark Member