Locations in the UK where houses are sold quickly and where not
It is taking almost two weeks longer for properties to sell in the UK than in the same period last year, new data shows. In September, homes stayed on the market for an average of 34 days before a sale was agreed.
However, the North West is the region where sales take the quickest. According to Zoopla, Liverpool ranks first as the fastest moving market in England. In the North West, the typical seller agreed an offer within 17 days – half the UK average.
One-bedroom apartments were the most sought-after as they sold the fastest. Thanks to a relatively low asking price of £105,000, the average time to sell was just three weeks (21 days).
In contrast, four-bedroom detached houses took almost two months (53 days) to sell and the average price was £477,000.
The second and third fastest developing markets were Manchester and Salford, where the average time to agree an offer was 21 and 23 days respectively.
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Cities such as Sheffield, Newcastle, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham also made it onto the list of the 25 fastest-selling markets for the first time since the pandemic, with deals typically being reached within 27 days.
Zoopla revealed that only nine of the fastest-selling areas of 2022 remained in the 2023 top 25 list, with demand for homes falling significantly in the locations that saw the lowest price growth over the past five years.
“With purchasing power falling by as much as 20 per cent due to rising mortgage rates, the cheapest homes across the country are selling the fastest,” Zoopla said.
“This obviously benefits the markets in the north-west and north-east of England, where the average home is between £72,000 and £125,000 cheaper than the national average.”
In over half (56%) of the fastest-selling areas, house prices are below the regional average. In areas such as Sheffield in Yorkshire, Port Talbot in Wales, Gateshead in the North East or Carlisle in the North West, the difference is typically 16%.
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In other regions, however, the picture was completely different: in the Midlands, Wales and southern England (excluding London), the time needed to sell a home increased by almost two weeks (12 days) compared to the previous year.
There are general trends in these areas: two-bedroom townhouses sell the fastest, while four-bedroom detached houses take the longest to sell, taking an average of 47 days to sell.
Meanwhile, Waltham Forest was the only London borough where sales were faster than the UK average, with sales completed within 24 days.
Izabella Lubowiecka, senior property researcher at Zoopla, said: “Over the past 12 months, the time it takes to sign a purchase agreement has increased by almost two weeks. This is due to a number of factors: there are fewer buyers in the market, living costs and higher mortgage rates, which have meant many have had to pause their search for their next home.
“However, we are currently only experiencing a return to more normal market conditions, as they were in the years before the pandemic. Anyone thinking about selling should keep this in mind and be prepared for the fact that selling their property may take longer than in previous years.”
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