Property transaction fall-throughs cost buyers and sellers up to £270m in Q3 of 2023, according to Home Sale Pack.
Home Sale Pack analysed data from TwentyCI on the estimated number of fall-throughs, as well as estimating the cost, taking inflation and the increased cost of legal fees into account.
The number of transactions falling through rose by 13.3% in Q3, having already increased by 9.3% between Q1 and Q2.
Home Sale Pack estimated that the average cost of a fall through in Q3 climbed to £3,433, up £51 on the previous quarter and £84 versus the start of the year.
At just under £270m, the total cost of fall throughs to UK buyers and sellers was 15% higher than the Q2 total.
However, there were 12.8% fewer fall throughs seen during Q3 of 2023 versus the same period in 2022, while the total cost to the market was down 9.8% on an annual basis.
Between Q1 and Q3 of 2022, the total estimated cost of fall throughs hit almost £775.8m.
During the same period of 2023, this was estimated to have hit just £717.1m – a difference of £58.7m.
Ruth Beeton, co-founder of Home Sale Pack, said: “2023 proved to be a challenging year for the property market and fall throughs remained a prominent obstacle for many homebuyers and sellers to overcome.
“The good news is that slower market conditions and fewer transactions tend to yield fewer fall throughs and so both the number and resulting cost incurred in 2023 have, so far, remained somewhat lower when compared to the previous year.
“Despite this, fall throughs have been increasing consistently throughout 2023 and with the market starting to show signs of a resurgence towards the end of the year, we expect this trend to have continued in Q4.
“Unfortunately fall throughs are often part and parcel of buying or selling a property and, in some cases, they are inevitable.
“However, the provision of upfront information has been proven to significantly reduce the threat of a fall through and it’s one area where sellers have the power to be proactive.
“In doing so, they can help increase the speed of their transaction while reducing the threat of it collapsing.”
