Hello, and welcome to another Lincoln Property Blog! I’m Ben from Walters of Lincolnshire, and this week we’re tackling a big question:
Why do nearly one in two Lincoln homes fail to sell, and how can you beat those odds?
Now, when most people decide to put their home on the market, they assume one thing, don’t they? That it will sell. And why wouldn’t they? You instruct an estate agent, the “For Sale” board goes up, photos appear on the property websites, viewings get booked and offers are made… Simple, right?
Well, here’s the kicker: it’s not that simple. Because what most Lincoln homeowners are never told is the real probability of actually selling and moving. I’ve looked at every Lincoln estate agent over the last two years, and the cold hard truth is, your chances of selling and moving your Lincoln home have been just 52.3%. That means a whopping 47.7% of homes failed to sell, ultimately withdrawing from the market unsold.
And those chances, folks, can vary massively from property to property. But at the end of the day, whether you sell your home or not almost always comes down to two key things: the marketing of your home, and its pricing. Every property is unique – its location, condition, layout, presentation, and even the timing of the sale all play a part. So, the marketing needs to be bespoke, and so does the asking price.
Interestingly, I was asked recently if the price band of a property made any difference to its saleability. You’d think it shouldn’t, but the figures tell a very different story.
So, let me share with you exactly what I found about the Lincoln property market and your chances of getting your home sold and moved, broken down by price band.
You see, there are only two outcomes when you put your Lincoln 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 scenarios:
- You exchange contracts, complete the house sale, and move home.
- You withdraw the property unsold.
Everything else is just noise.
So, I’ve delved into the data for every Lincoln property that has left every Lincoln estate agent’s books over the last two years. Then, I calculated how many successfully sold (meaning they exchanged and completed) versus how many were withdrawn and never sold.
The results are pretty eye-opening:
The Lincoln Selling Odds, Price Bracket by Price Bracket.
- For homes up to £250,000: 3,787 Lincoln homes sold and moved, but 2,846 were unsold and withdrawn. That’s a 57.1% success rate.
- For homes between £250,000 and £500,000: 2,168 Lincoln homes sold and moved, but 2,365 were unsold and withdrawn. So, a 47.8% success rate.
- Moving up to £500,000 to £1 million: Only 266 Lincoln homes sold and moved, while a staggering 447 were unsold and withdrawn. That’s just a 37.3% success rate.
- And for homes over £1 million: 21 Lincoln homes sold and moved, but 32 were unsold and withdrawn. Meaning a 39.6% success rate.
In simple terms:
- If your home is worth under £250,000, more than half of them sell.
- Between £250,000 and £500,000, less than half sell.
- Over £500,000, only around one in three actually get moved.
- And for £1 million-plus homes, just over one in three sell.
And this isn’t just a Lincoln phenomenon! The exact same pattern plays out nationally and across the East Midlands. Just to give you a quick comparison:
- For homes up to £250,000: The East Midlands has a 59.8% success rate, and nationally it’s 62.9%.
- Between £250,000 and £500,000: East Midlands at 49.6%, National at 53.7%.
- £500,000 to £1 million: East Midlands 41.3%, National 44.8%.
- And for £1 million-plus: East Midlands 37.4%, National 35.1%.
So, it’s clear: as asking prices increase, the odds of selling your home actually fall.
So, why do higher-priced homes struggle to sell?
Well, the higher up the price ladder you go, the smaller the buyer pool becomes. There are simply fewer proceedable buyers. Affordability tightens. Mortgage stress tests get harder. Even wealthy buyers become more selective when borrowing costs rise.
But the biggest thing with the most expensive homes is that they are harder to value and price correctly. Also, some estate agents, frankly, like to have prestige homes on the market for kudos, so they might overegg the suggested asking price. Overpricing, my friends, becomes the biggest danger of all.
Now, let’s talk about the danger of overpricing your Lincoln home. When the market was red hot in 2021, many sellers got away with ambitious pricing. Mortgage rates were dirt cheap, and stock was limited.
But we are not in that market anymore.
In today’s 2025 Lincoln market, pricing too high is the fastest way to end up in that “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’s exactly what’s happening to almost half of the sellers in certain price brackets.
This is why your Lincoln 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 just putting it online and hoping.
In this market, experienced Lincoln estate agents do three crucial things that truly make the difference:
- They price correctly from day one.
- They qualify and manage buyers effectively.
- They negotiate firmly and protect your sale right through to exchange and completion.
The best agents understand the psychology behind buyer behaviour. They manage expectations. They create competition, not just interest.
Of course, every Lincoln home is unique. But the statistics don’t lie. The data here looks at the broader trends across Lincoln. You might have a home that defies these odds, or you might have a home that, sadly, falls victim to them. What matters is not just knowing these statistics, but understanding how they apply to your specific Lincoln home, its location, and its condition.
The question Lincoln homeowners should be asking is not: “What price do I want for my home?”
It is: “What price gives me the best odds of successfully moving?”
Because nobody puts their Lincoln home up for sale just for it to sit there. The goal isn’t 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’s not about the asking price you put your home on for; it’s 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’s the bit most people forget when making home moving decisions.
Those are my thoughts. Do you have anything to add to them?
We hope this has given you some real food for thought. For more insights and information, make sure to visit the Lincoln Property Blog, brought to you by Ben from Walters of Lincolnshire.
And if you would like a chat about where you sit in the current market, please don’t hesitate to give me a call on 01522 512 513. Or, drop me a message on social media.
To ensure all our clients get the absolute best experience and a total marketing strategy as unique as their homes, we only list twenty properties per month. Our June and July market appraisal slots are now available to book. We ensure that you are always a name and not just a number, with Walters.
