Typical time to sell varies across UK regional property markets, new figures show
The typical time on the market for a property in England and Wales is now 90 days, the shortest it has been since April 2008, according to new figures from Home.co.uk.
However, the firm points out that 90 days is simply the median figure across both overheating and cooler regional markets and there is considerable variation depending on location.
At one extreme, Greater London has a low marketing time of 48 days, which is equivalent to the on market time observed in the previous boom. The South East is also a fast market showing boom time length marketing times as supply slows to a mere trickle and properties get snapped up by eager buyers spurred on by the Help to Buy scheme.
By contrast, the North East and Wales show a typical on market time of 167 and 166 days respectively. These and similar slow regional markets are burdened by a backlog of properties that have been on the market a long time, in many cases more than a year, it says. Vendors there are simply waiting for the market to pick up and the North, Wales and Scotland are seeing ample supply relative to demand hindering the property market recovery despite the Help to Buy scheme and low interest rates.
‘The UK property market remains highly diverse in respect of marketing times. London seems a world away from the difficult and slow markets in the North. The sub-inflation price rises observed in Yorkshire, the North West, Scotland, Wales and the North East correlate well with the long marketing times shown above and indicates that, contrary to the rest of the country, supply is broadly in balance with demand in these regions,’ said Doug Shephard, director of Home.co.uk.
‘However, market conditions are currently improving rapidly in the North, Scotland and Wales. Hence, we may soon be able to add some, if not all, to the list of booming regional markets over the next 12 months. Goodness knows how the London and South East markets will look by then,’ he added.