Why 44% of Reading Homes Don’t Sell – Avoid the Trap

Why 44% of Reading Homes Don’t Sell – and How to Avoid It

When most people in Reading decide to sell, they assume one thing – that their home will sell. But the truth is, even with the help of a Reading estate agent, 44.4% of homes in Reading fail to find a buyer

Because what most Reading homeowners never get told is the real probability of you selling and moving. Looking at every Reading estate agent…

Over the last two years, your chances of selling and moving your Reading home have been 55.6%.

The remaining 44.4% of homes (i.e. over 4 in 10) failed to sell, withdrawing from the market unsold.

(Reading RG1/2/4/6).

And those chances vary massively, property to property.

At the end of the day though, whether you sell your home or not almost always comes down to two things. The marketing of your home and its pricing. Every property is unique. Its location, condition, layout, presentation and even timing all play a part and so the marketing of the home needs to be bespoke as does its asking price. Interestingly, I was asked recently if the price band of a property made any difference to the home’s saleability. One would think it shouldn’t, yet the figures tell a different story.

Let me share with you what I found about the Reading property market and the chances of getting your home sold (and moved), split down by price band.

Two Outcomes to Putting Your Reading Home on the Market. That’s it.

Let’s start with something simple. When you list your home for sale, there are only two possible outcomes:

1. You exchange contracts, complete the house sale and move home.
2. You withdraw the property unsold.

Everything else is noise.

So, I have looked at the data for every Reading property that has left every Reading estate agent’s book over the last two years. Then calculated how many have successfully sold (& exchanged and completed) verses how many were withdrawn and never sold.

The results are eye opening.

The Reading Selling Odds, Price Bracket by Price Bracket.

• Up to £250k: 828 Reading homes sold & moved, 930 unsold & withdrawn. 47.1% success rate.
• £250k to £500k: 2,367 Reading homes sold & moved, 1,471 unsold & withdrawn. 61.6% success rate.
• £500k to £1m: 1,243 Reading homes sold & moved, 1,045 unsold & withdrawn. 54.3% success rate.
• £1m+: 128 Reading homes sold & moved, 190 unsold & withdrawn. 40.2% success rate.

In simple terms:

• If your home is worth under £250k, less than half sell.
• Between £250k and £500k, you have a 3 in 5 chance of selling.
• Over £500k, just over half sell.
• And for £1m+ homes, only around 2 in 5 get moved.

This Is Not Just Reading!

You might be thinking, surely that is just Reading? Actually, no. A similar pattern plays out nationally and across the South East.

Here’s how Reading compares:

• Up to £250k: South East 46.1% & National 62.9%
• £250k to £500k: South East 57.5% & National 53.7%
• £500k to £1m: South East 46.4% & National 44.8%
• £1m+: South East 38.8% & National 35.1%

So generally, as asking prices increase, the odds of selling your home fall.

Why do Higher-Priced Reading Homes Struggle to Sell?

The higher up the price ladder you go, the smaller the buyer pool becomes.

There are fewer proceedable buyers. Affordability tightens. Mortgage stress tests get harder. Even wealthy buyers become more selective when borrowing costs rise. Yet the biggest thing with the most expensive homes is that they are harder to value and price right. Also, some estate agents like to have prestige homes on the market for kudos, so overegg the suggested asking price. Overpricing becomes the biggest danger of all.

The Danger of Overpricing Your Reading Home.

When the market was red hot in 2021, many sellers got away with ambitious pricing. Buyers had FOMO. Mortgage rates were dirt cheap. Stock was limited.

But we are not in that market anymore.

In today’s 2025 Reading market, pricing too high is the fastest way to end up in the withdrawal pile. Once your property goes stale, price drops often fail to undo the damage. Buyer confidence weakens. The home lingers unsold. And as the data shows, that is exactly what is happening to almost half of the sellers in certain price brackets.

Your Reading Estate Agent Matters More Than Ever.

One of the biggest misconceptions sellers have is that ‘price equals value’.

It doesn’t.

Value is what someone will pay. And getting that buyer to step forward takes more than putting it online and hoping.

In this market, experienced Reading estate agents do three things that make the difference:

• They price correctly from day one.
• They qualify and manage buyers effectively.
• They negotiate firmly and protect your sale through to exchange and completion.

The best agents understand the psychology behind buyer behaviour. They manage expectations. They create competition, not just interest.

Every Reading Home Is Unique. But The Statistics Don’t Lie.

Of course, every property is different. The data here looks at the broader trends across Reading. You might have a home that defies these odds. You might also have a home that falls victim to them. What matters is not just knowing these statistics but understanding how they apply to your specific Reading home, location, and condition.

The Real Question Reading Sellers Should Ask.

The question Reading homeowners should be asking is not:

"What price do I want?"

It is:

"What price gives me the best odds of successfully moving?"

Because nobody puts their Reading home up for sale to just sit there. The goal is not to be on the market. The goal is to be moved and onto the next chapter of your life. And pricing correctly, from day one, remains the most powerful decision you control as a seller.

It is not about what asking price you place your home on for, it is about what you end up selling it for, compared to the price of the one you are buying. The real cost of moving is the gap between the two, not just how much you could get for yours. That is the bit most people forget when making home moving decisions.

These are my thoughts, do you have anything to add to them?

Thinking of selling your Reading home? Start with a no-obligation property valuation today. Free Home Valuation in Reading | My Bespoke Agent At Bespoke Estate Agents, we price with purpose and market with precision.