The Average Number of Viewings Before a House Sells

Whether you’re a first-time seller or a seasoned professional, one thing you expect from selling a house on the open market is getting viewings.

You might show potential buyers around yourself or leave it up to the estate agent—however, you go about it, it’s a crucial step to getting your house sold.

But the big question is: how many viewings does it take to sell a house? What’s the average number of viewings before a house sells? Are you going to have 20+ viewings with no success?

This guide will help you find answers and get tips on not only how to get more house viewings, but also what to do when your viewings aren’t leading to offers.

Table of Contents

• How long do most houses take to sell?

• The average number of viewings to sell a house

• How many viewings should you have in the first week?

• How many second viewings result in an offer?

• What makes a house harder to sell?

• How do I get more house viewings?

• My house isn’t selling – what do I do?

• About The Property Buying Company

How long do most houses take to sell?

Recent research from Zoopla revealed that, while your average home can go under offer in 38 days, it typically takes around 25 weeks to sell. Delays were put down to “poor communication, delays in the conveyancing or mortgage application process and the searches taking a long time to come back.”

The government’s own estimates sit at around five months to sell—this will no doubt be affected by the changes to stamp duty that came into effect in April 2025, as house buyers were clambering to push sales through before March 31st to avoid the hikes. Rightmove’s House Index suggested in April 2025 that buyers who missed out on the deadline weren’t put off by the increase and continued with their purchases, which suggests they weren’t put off by the aforementioned reasons for delay either.

The average number of viewings to sell a house

Although selling a house can be an unpredictable adventure at the best of times, one thing you can expect is that you will get viewings. After all, who’s going to buy a property they haven’t even looked at?

Here’s a look at The Advisory’s insights into how many viewings it takes on average in the UK: 

Based on research from The Advisory, only 20% of sales agreed in both a hot and cold market had fewer than five viewings, showing it’s unlikely you’ll sell your house within the first few viewings.

Even though the average number of viewings to sell a house is 10, which does sound a lot, there’s no telling how quickly these viewings happen. They could all happen in the first five weeks of the house being on the market, so it could be sold subject to contract (STC) within that timeframe.

Alternatively, these 10 viewings could be spread over months or even years in some cases (not unheard of!). This is a big risk with the open market, as there are no set deadlines or timeframes for selling a house. This means that when you go into selling a property, there’s no true way of telling how long the process will take.

According to our data at The Property Buying Company, since July 2024, the average number of viewings before a sale across all property types is six. Interestingly, this differs between property types, too, as you can see from this chart:

Bungalows needed more viewings to sell than any other property type, while flats flew out of the door in an average of four viewings per property in the UK.

How many viewings should you have in the first week?

In a hot market, you should expect to get about two viewings a week. When there are lots of buyers in the market and, therefore, greater potential interest, that number could increase.

With a hot market, there are more buyers than there are sellers, and so as soon as something comes onto the market, buyers will jump on it ASAP.

In a cold market, you should expect to get around one viewing every week-and-a-half to two weeks. Using this logic, you should expect a viewing in your first week or at least a call to arrange a viewing.

There are fewer buyers or, at least, fewer buyers than there are sellers in a cold market. This will result in your property being one of many, which makes it harder to stand out in the market. In this situation, it’s so important to make sure your house is the best it could possibly be (read on for some tips for getting more viewings).

How many second viewings result in an offer?

Second viewings are a good indication that the buyer is interested in your property. Time wasters who just wanted to come and have a nosey will never go past the first viewing, as they never really had a genuine interest in your property.

Having said this, a second viewing doesn’t automatically mean an offer either—it could be the case that your house is on their ‘short list’ and there are multiple properties getting a second viewing. Sadly, there’s no exact statistic for the number of second viewings that result in an offer, since everyone’s experience with buying and selling is different.

That said, viewing a house for a second time is an encouraging sign they’re interested, especially if they bring another family member to see it or start asking questions about the neighbours, what it’s like living there, what bills are like, etc.

As we said, though, there’s no guarantee a second viewing will lead to an offer. Someone may view a house multiple times and still decide it’s not the house for them. Even after offering, the buyer could still pull out if something ‘better’ comes along.

What makes a house harder to sell?

If your house has been on the market a while and you’ve not had many viewings or had a lot of viewings that came to nothing, then there’s obviously something putting off potential buyers.

There’s no specific ‘one size fits all’ answer as to what makes a house harder to sell, but we’ve got a list of reasons as to why houses don’t sell or take longer to sell here:

1. Asking price too high – This is often the first thing that an estate agent will say to you when your house isn’t selling (despite them being the ones who told you to put your house on at this price). However, despite this, they’re actually not wrong – getting the asking price right is crucial to ensuring your house doesn’t sit on the market.

2. Photos don’t ‘show off’ the property – As the majority of buyers look for houses online, photos of the property are so important. Make sure you ask your estate agent for all the photos; choose the ones you like and ask a friend if they agree. You want to make sure the pictures are showing off all the ‘good bits’ about your property, as this is what will draw in viewers and make a house easier to sell.

3. Estate agent isn’t good enough – This is a tricky one, but sometimes you may find that your estate agent isn’t working hard enough for your property or maybe just isn’t right for your property. An estate agent who isn’t working well with the property is not going to help a property sell, and could result in a harder sale.

4. Bad timing – Maybe you’ve put your house up for sale at the quietest time of the year, causing your house to stick on the market. Generally, the best time of year to sell your property is during the spring and summer months and doing so outside this time will result in a house being hard to sell.

5. Key features missing – If the description of your house online doesn’t include the key features that make your property attractive, then the house will stick on the market and be harder to sell. If your house has a garden or garage, make sure that these are featured heavily in the description – anything that makes your house sound the best it can, should be included to avoid it not selling.

6. Too much clutter – A cluttered house is not something any potential buyer wants to see. Before any viewing or photos, make sure to declutter and ‘depersonalise’ your house to help it become more appealing to your viewers, helping them visualise themselves living there, making it more likely that the viewings will turn into a sale.

7. Not on Rightmove – Rightmove is one of the UK’s biggest property portals, so not having your house on there will make it harder to sell. Alongside Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket are also two of the UK’s biggest property portals, so you should push to get your property featured on them to get it viewed by more people.

8. House is disappointing on viewings – Sometimes your estate agent photos aren’t the problem, it’s when the viewers actually view your house…maybe your house is looking a bit tired? Or maybe you’re a pet owner and your furry friend is causing an unappealing smell? Ask a friend or your estate agent to walk around your house and be brutally honest about anything that needs a bit of tweaking to stop your house being so hard to sell.

9. Property chain – A property chain, particularly a long property chain, is highly unappealing to potential buyers, as the sale going through doesn’t just rely on the seller, but also everyone else above them in the chain. If you can be chain-free by moving into rented accommodation or selling your house before looking for a new one, then this will decrease the likelihood of your house being hard to sell.

How do I get more house viewings?

If you’re struggling to get viewings, there are some simple steps you can follow to increase your ‘curb appeal’ and get yourself some more viewings. Here are our top tips: 

• Put your house up during the busiest months – As we mentioned earlier, the best time to sell your house is during the spring/summer months, with May to August being the busiest months. The end of the stamp duty holiday in 2025 meant a busy January to March, so you should look at seasonal or news-based effects, too. If you’re unsure when’s best to go on the market, speak with your estate agent and they should be able to give you the best advice.

• Give the house a freshen up – Time to repaint the dull walls, scatter around some flowers and plants and fix all the dodgy lightbulbs. You could also get some new pictures done – this may make the house look fresh on the market and may bring in some viewers who had previously ‘written off’ your house.

• Change estate agent – Or use multiple estate agents. This will increase the number of people seeing your property, which increases the likelihood of finding the right people to not only view your property, but also turn their viewings into a sale.

• Consider changing your price – Sometimes when a house is sticking on the market with very few viewings, it can be the price putting off potential viewers. A change of price will therefore draw in those people, leading to more viewings and increased potential of finding the right buyer.

Read more: Sell Your House Fast

My house isn’t selling – what do I do?

If your house is on the open market and isn’t selling or has had more viewings than the average number of viewings to sell a house, then it may be time to start considering your other options.

Luckily for you, there are plenty of other options to help get yourself a faster sale: (1) Part Exchange, (2) Auction or (3) a ‘cash house buying’ company like The Property Buying Company.

Not sure which option is best? Let’s break them down and see which suits you…

Selling your house via part-exchange

A part-exchange scheme is where you trade the value of your current house against a new build property, with your property acting as a ‘part payment’ for a new build. A part-exchange scheme can be generally good for a quick house sale, as it means a guaranteed sale of your property, no chain and a new build house, too.

However, it’s not a sale method that will suit everyone. For example, during the process, one step is the developer having your house valued by three individuals so they can make you an offer based on these valuations.

During this process, you’re given no indication of how this value has been determined and they will generally undervalue your property by a fair amount. It also means you have to have multiple viewings with the different individuals valuing the property, making the process more time-consuming.

Part-exchange schemes also state that your house must be in what they deem to be ‘good’ condition and that not all houses are eligible for the scheme. If your house is more than 70% of the value of the new build, then you will not be allowed to take part.

Also, even if you are given an offer for your property through a part-exchange scheme, the offer is still subject to a survey and, in some terms of agreement, it states that the developer can withdraw their offer at any point without notice, leaving you stuck with no buyer without warning.

Part-exchange schemes are also not open to doing a deal on a property in just any location – in other words, if it doesn’t fit in with them, they don’t want it.

Selling your house at an auction

Another option you could use if your house has had more than the average number of viewings with no success is to go through an auction.

At auction, you will get serious buyers who have their finances in place because, when the hammer goes down on a deal, contracts are exchanged, and a 10% deposit is put down. The buyer then has 20 to 28 days to complete, helping you sell your house much quicker.

You’re also less likely to get time-wasters at auctions, with everyone there serious about buying. You’re also unlikely to get ‘gazundered’, which is where a buyer suddenly drops their price after it has been agreed.

However, even at auction, buyers can and do pull out of the sale, forfeiting their deposit. Also, you’ll need to have several open days to allow potential buyers the opportunity to view the property. This will further delay the process and there’s no telling how many open days and viewings it will take to get your house sold…

Also, at auction, you have to cover your own legal fees and you have to pay a commission of the sold price to the auctioneer and pay for advertising and marketing costs, as well as room hire. The price your house sells at can also be significantly below the ‘market price’. The buying of your property will also be subject to a survey.

There are no guarantees that your property will sell in an auction format, and it can take 6-10 weeks, which is quicker than the current average on the open market, but it still leaves you guessing as to when you will finally get your house sold.

Selling your house to a cash buyer company

Another option to help take the guessing out of how many viewings it will take for your house to finally go is to sell to a cash house buying company, also known as a ‘quick house sale’ company.

A quick house sale company will give you a cash offer for your property, which is a guaranteed price and, therefore, means you have a guaranteed buyer. Your legal fees will be covered by the company and you won’t have to pay any commissions or fees. You also won’t get ‘gazundered’, as the price you’re offered by the company will be a guaranteed price.

Unlike on the open market and at auction, selling with a quick house sale company only involves one quick house viewing to help ensure that the valuation and offer for your property is as accurate as possible.

Although the offer you’re given will be slightly below market value, the fact that you won’t have to pay any legal fees or estate agent costs means the price you’re offered is the price you’ll get.

About The Property Buying Company

We have over 50 years’ combined experience in the industry and countless good reviews on Trustpilot, meaning we really are a quick house sale company you can rely on—take our customers’ words for it:

Why not get on your way to selling your house FAST, without the need for a never-ending list of viewings? Give us a call or enter your postcode to get a no-obligation cash offer, which we could have in your bank in as little as 7 days.