Sellers in the current property market may find that withdrawing their home from sale and relisting it can significantly increase its chances of being sold, according to data from property analytics firm TwentyCi. This strategy can be effective even if the asking price is not reduced.
Data suggests that after three months on the market, a property's chance of selling drops to 14.2 percent. However, withdrawing the property for a short break and then relisting it can boost the odds of a sale to 39.9 percent. The analysis indicated that lowering the price upon relisting made virtually no difference to the likelihood of a sale.
Market Conditions and Sales Trends
The national average time to sell a home has nearly doubled since 2022. In 2026, the supply of newly listed properties reached its highest point in at least a decade, with a 2.4 percent increase in supply compared to the same period in 2025. Despite this increase in available homes, the number of sales agreed upon so far in 2026 is 5.1 percent lower than in 2025. This slowdown is attributed to factors such as mortgage affordability constraints and broader economic uncertainty.
More than half of all property sales, precisely 53.3 percent, occur within the first five weeks of a listing. Over three-quarters, 75.6 percent, are completed within the first three months. After this three-month window, the probability of a sale declines sharply.
The Strategy of Withdrawing and Relisting
In 2025, approximately 582,000 properties were withdrawn from the market. Of these, 95,700 were relisted after a break. Of the relisted properties, 54,700 had their prices reduced, while 41,000 were relisted at the same or a higher price. Properties with lower prices had a 39.5 percent chance of selling, while those relisted at the same or higher price saw a 39.9 percent chance of sale, highlighting the minimal impact of price reductions in this scenario.
Colin Bradshaw, chief executive of TwentyCi, stated that while new property listings are at a decade high, sales are decreasing due to mortgage affordability and economic uncertainty. He advised that if sellers can manage it, withdrawing a property that hasn't sold in the initial weeks can significantly improve its chances of selling at the desired price.
Agent Perspectives
Estate agent Jeremy Leaf expressed a more cautious view, acknowledging that withdrawing and relisting can be effective in some instances but emphasized that its success depends heavily on market conditions during the period the property is off-market. He noted that waiting a few months could be crucial for securing a sale, but also carries the risk of market shifts that could lead to a lower sale price.
Leaf suggested that updating property photos and presentation could help attract buyers. Additionally, external factors like nearby construction or roadworks being completed during the withdrawal period could improve a property's appeal upon relisting. He also cautioned that some agents attempt to quickly relist properties as 'new' to avoid them appearing stale on property portals, a practice that can sometimes be detected and may lead to repercussions.