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Oscars’ astonishingly high house sales completion rate bucks national trend

While the rest of the country saw almost half of house sales falling through before completion in the last quarter of 2018 – Oscars has managed to buck this worrying trend.

Research from Quick Move Now showed the national average for sales falling through was 30.6 per cent last year, but this rose to 49.8 per cent for the final three months of the 2018.

Political and economic uncertainty was blamed for the catastrophic statistics across the housing market.

However, Oscars’ Managing Director Alisdair Bott-Francis has revealed the national picture couldn’t be further from the situation recorded at the Anlaby-based estate agents, which has had an astonishingly low fall through rate of just 2.9 per cent for 2019.

He said: “There is nothing more disappointing for a seller or buyer to see a house sale fall through after an offer has been made and accepted.

“The statistics show that a house sale is far from complete once an offer is made and accepted. It is often after a sold board goes up – when buyers have moved quickly to beat others and sellers have wanted a quick sale - that people can have final doubts.

“It is therefore imperative that a good estate agent doesn’t only find a buyer for the vendor, but the right buyer and at the right price. They need to know and understand both parties.

“Because of the advice we give, as well as the relentless sales progression that the team undertake which goes ways beyond the norm, our fall through rate for 2019 is currently at just 2.9%. This is something we are really proud of.

“Securing a sale on a property gets hopes up all round, and the last thing we want to do is see those hopes dashed.

“The relationships our staff build up with our customers, and the work they put in to progressing the sale, and making sure it is the right sale, means we have a miniscule fall through rate compared to the national average.”

The research showed that the main reason for unsuccessful property sales in 2018 (30 percent) was the buyer changing their mind and pulling out of the purchase.? Common causes of sales falling through before completion include: the seller receiving a higher offer after a sale has been agreed (19 percent); survey issues causing a buyer to pull out of the sale (16 percent); difficulty securing a mortgage (13 percent); either party feeling that the sale was not progressing (10 percent); chain collapse (9 percent); buyer wanted to reduce their offer after the sale had been agreed (3 percent).

Alisdair added: “As the research shows there are many issues which can affect a sale after that initial agreement on an offer has been made.

“Buyers and sellers can get frustrated with delays, and will look to agents to help ensure things progress.?

“Lots of the issues we see nationally regarding sales falling through are not problems for us, as we pay very close attention to our customers and can often step in to resolve problems. I think it’s that close personal attention that really pays off for us.

“Looking ahead, the housing market locally and nationally is set to improve for 2019, and that is great news for buyers and sellers.

“Our completion rate gives our clients huge confidence to know that our team performs, even throughout what have been uncertain economic times recently with the fallout of Brexit negotiations certainly having an impact.”

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