A hard truth about pricing, valuations, and credibility in today’s market.

This week, I was pleased to see a sale agreed on a property that I originally sold back in 2018 for £1.1 million.

What happened in the years that followed, however, perfectly illustrates why so many agents struggle with credibility and why trust in valuations has been eroded across the industry.

At some point after the original sale, the client was advised that the property could achieve £1.5 million (!!)

Fast forward to 2026 and the property has now been agreed for less than it achieved in 2018.

That is not bad luck.

That is bad advice.

Markets correct. Advice should too.

The post-Covid property bubble has burst. That is not controversial, it is simply reality. Prices have softened, buyer behaviour has changed, and affordability pressures are very real.

Markets rise and markets fall. That part is normal.

What is not normal, or at least should not be, is advising clients to list property at levels that are never realistically achievable, simply to secure an instruction. When this happens, properties sit, reduce, sit again, and quietly become what buyers perceive as “problem stock”.

By the time the price eventually reaches the level the market was willing to pay in the first place, the damage has already been done.

Unrealistic pricing doesn’t just hurt one seller.

Overpricing does not exist in isolation. It distorts the wider market.

Homeowners see properties listed at ambitious figures and assume that the agent knows what they are doing.

Why wouldn’t they? The agent is meant to be the expert.

The result is a ripple effect of unrealistic expectations, where multiple properties follow the same path of overpricing, stagnation, and reduction.

In one current example I am watching closely, a property has reduced by nearly £1 million from its original asking price and is now sold subject to contract, but at less than the price the current owner paid in 2021.

This is not a £1 million loss.

It is the consequence of unrealistic pricing at the outset. Gut wrenchingly awful advive.

The role online valuation tools play in misleading sellers.

Compounding the issue is the continued reliance on online valuation tools. The same property referenced earlier currently displays an assumed value of £1.25 million on one such platform.

That figure is simply wrong.

Yet homeowners hang their hats on these numbers. They see them as validation.

Agents then find themselves either correcting expectations or, too often, leaning into the number to win the instruction.

Online tools are not malicious, but they are blunt. They lack context, condition insight, motivation, nuance, and timing. Used responsibly, they can form part of a broader conversation. Used irresponsibly, they mislead sellers and damage trust.

Why this matters.

When valuations are treated as a sales tactic rather than professional advice, everyone loses. Sellers lose time, momentum, and credibility. Buyers become sceptical. Agents reinforce negative stereotypes.

And eventually, the property sells anyway, usually to a buyer who understands the market far better than the seller was ever allowed to.

This is why valuation conversations need to change.

Not to flatter.

Not to chase instructions.

But to reflect reality, even when that reality is uncomfortable.

Because honest advice at the start is always cheaper than false confidence over time.