An estimated 300,000 aborted sales, at a cost of just under £3500 means fall throughs cost home buyers over £1bn in 2024 according to newly released analysis by estate agency eXp.
The estate agency says an estimated 70,641 fall throughs occurred in Q4 2024 according to data from the TwentyCi Property & Homemover Report, down from 84,079 in the third quarter of the year. With an estimated average cost of fall through of £3,456, the cost of fall through in Q4 2024 was £244.2m; an increase of 17% year on year. In Q3 the cost was £289.9m based on the increased number of failed transactions, representing a 12% increase in the cost of fall throughs on the same time in 2023.
2024 saw an estimated 296,204 transactions fall through at a total cost of £1.01bn based on an average cost to home buyers of £3419 once all home moving fees have been taken into account. The fall through figures are up 10% on 2023 with the number of aborted transactions estimated at 269,204 in 2023; with the overall cost 12% up on 2023’s £905m.
The analysis shows the average cost of fall throughs has increased by around 3% over the past two years, from £3352 in Q1 2023 to £3456 in Q4 2024.
Commenting on the figures, Head of eXp UK, Adam Day, said:
“The level of transactions subject to a fall through trended downwards during the final three months of last year and, as a result, the total cost endured by the nation’s homebuyers and sellers also followed suit. Whilst this is certainly good news on the face of it, it’s not unusual to observe such trends during the latter stages of the year, purely due to the lower number of transactions in the pipeline as the market winds down ahead of the Christmas break. The stamp duty deadline bringing a heightened sense of activity during the first quarter of this year will likely see fall through levels climb as transaction levels increase and (the cost of moving increases).”
