It takes, on average, 102 days to sell a property in the UK according to the latest Post Office Money City Rate of Sale report.
The report, developed with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), looks at the average time it takes for a property to sell in 35 major cities across the UK. Overall the amount of time sellers had to wait before receiving an offer was one week more – increasing from 96 days in 2017.
The Rate of Sale
Homeowners in Scottish cities Edinburgh and Glasgow will see their homes sell fastest in the UK, spending 39 and 48 days on the market, respectively. Glasgow’s market also remains particularly competitive with the fastest house price growth of major UK cities. While properties in both cities remain relatively affordable when compared to the rest of the UK, both have also seen strong population growth which has increased demand for houses in areas with an undersupply of homes.
Properties in London and Blackpool take the longest to sell – taking on average 126 and 131 days. Despite London previously having one of the most competitive property markets, its expensive properties fuelled by years of double-digit house price growth, tend to take longer to sell. Properties over £1 million take 171 days on average to sell in the capital, whereas cheaper properties take only 99 days. Meanwhile, Blackpool sits at the other end of the spectrum; properties are extremely affordable, but it has the oldest average population, and therefore, may not be benefiting from the recent rise in first-time buyer sales on the property market.
Ross Hunter, spokesperson for Post Office Money said: “Properties are taking slightly longer to sell but this doesn’t mean that interest in moving up the housing ladder is waning. At Post Office, for instance, we have continued to see a rise in mortgage applications and approvals in the last year. First-time buyers have actually increased by 12% across the market in the last year alone, encouraged by the reduction made to stamp duty costs and mortgage innovation. We also know that housing supply has increased significantly – the number of homes completed in Q2 2018 was up 7% in England compared to the previous quarter, so there are more properties available to choose from for perspective buyers.”
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