New research has suggested that upfront information at the point of listing a property could see as many as one in seven fall-throughs avoided.
Property data specialist Sprift analysed 1.2 million listings across 2022 to understand the difference in fall-through rates between estate agents who use their platform to provide upfront information to buyers and those who don’t.
They found that those not using the platform experienced an average fall-through rate of 29.3%. Conversely, those that did use the dashboard and Key Facts for Buyers reports experienced an average fall-through rate of 25.4%, meaning a 13.31% (nearly one in seven) reduction in real terms of deals which don’t complete.
“Whilst we’ve been quietly confident for a very long time that providing buyers with as much information as possible on a property at the earliest opportunity would have a positive effect on fall-through rates, [..] our data analysis now suggests this is indeed highly likely to be the case,” said Matt Gilpin, CEO and Founder of Sprift. He continued:
“Data can’t and won’t ever be able to mitigate every situation in which either a vendor or a buyer decides to withdraw from the transaction prior to exchange, however what we can point to is a direct correlation between agents providing significant information to a buyer at that critical point of first engagement, such as our Key Facts for Buyers reports, and a reduction in average fall-through rates.”
Gilpin said that while there is an absence of a set definition of what constitutes upfront information, the Material Information as defined by the NTSELAT forms the basis of their reports for homebuyers. He concluded:
“The debate still rages on as to whether or not legislation needs to change in order to mandate upfront searches or vendor-provided information by way of a completed BASPI or TA6 and TA10. However, our data study unequivocally identifies that pulling together key elements, such as the boundary plan, flood risk, whether the property is in a Conversation Area or AONB, if there are any TPOs or flagging if the property is Listed and showcasing all of that information in a report that’s ‘user friendly’ for a consumer to understand, increases the agent’s success rate in terms of completed transactions.”
