"With more than 72% of homes finding buyers this summer, the market is not weak, but trust is being undermined by persistent over-pricing"
- Ian Macbeth - Avocado Property Partner Agents
Agent over-pricing is eroding public confidence in the housing market, according to a senior industry figure.
New data from TwentyEA shows that six in ten homes listed this summer needed to reduce their asking price. Figures from July and August 2025 indicate that 62% of properties across England were marked down, the highest level of summer reductions in recent years.
While 72.4% of homes went under offer during the same period, up from 63% in the first half of the year, the extent of price cuts suggests agents are regularly setting unrealistic expectations.
Ian Macbeth, co-founder of self-employed agent brokerage Avocado Property Partner Agents, said the findings should serve as a wake-up call.
“These figures should worry the industry. If nearly two-thirds of properties need a price reduction, it shows we are getting it wrong too often,” Macbeth said. “With more than 72% of homes finding buyers this summer, the market is not weak, but trust is being undermined by persistent over-pricing.
“The pattern is even more concerning when compared with previous years. In the summer of 2024, 54% of homes required a price cut, already a high figure but one that looks modest against this year’s 62%. Rather than improving in their ability to guide sellers to realistic valuations, agents appear to be moving backwards.”
Macbeth noted that the data also conflicts with broader indicators, suggesting the housing market has been broadly stable for much of 2025.
“That stability should have translated into more accurate pricing,” he said. “Instead, inflated asking prices and subsequent reductions point to a growing mismatch between how homes are marketed and what buyers are prepared to pay.”
Against this backdrop, Avocado Property Partner Agents reported stronger performance among their own listings. Just 28.6% of the firm’s homes required reductions during the same summer period, less than half the national average, while 80.5% went under offer.
“The numbers show there are plenty of buyers out there, but they will only commit if homes are marketed at the right level,” Macbeth said. “Over-pricing delays transactions, damages client confidence, and creates unnecessary turbulence in a market that is otherwise steady. Our own experience shows that when pricing and marketing are handled correctly, far fewer reductions are needed, and far more sales are secured. Agents must take responsibility for guiding sellers towards realistic valuations from the very start.”
