Property sells faster in Cambridge than any other city in the UK, taking only 27 days on average to be marked as sold, according to leading real estate portal Rightmove.

The University and techno city is closely followed by London boroughs of Lewisham and Sutton both with 29 days and Waltham Forest with 31 days. Warwick at 33 days and St Albans at 34 days) also make the fastest selling top 10.

Overall the average time to sell has fallen to 65 days this year compared to 75 days in the same period in 2013 with properties across the country selling 10 days faster than this time last year.

In the slower selling markets properties could be for sale for an average of more than 100 days before a deal is made, with areas in Wales and the North making up the majority of the list.

Powys in Wales has the slowest selling properties, taking 113 days on average, followed by Gwynedd at 112 days and Sefton in Merseyside at 106 days.

The new data includes all properties that were changed to Sold Subject to Contract (SSTC) by agents during April to June 2014, and measures the interval of time since they were first listed for sale on Rightmove.

Although some of the slower towns have seen increases in time to sell compared with 2013, all regional averages have fallen showing the housing market recovery to be broad based.

The biggest falls year on year were in London with 32% drop from 60 to 41 days, the South East with a 22% drop from 65 to 51 days and the East with a 20% drop from 70 to 56 days. The North East sees the smallest fall of 2% from 90 to 88 days, followed by Wales with a 5% fall from 92 to 87 days.

‘This new data shows just how different the pace of the housing market is at a very local level, and clearly displays that speed is key for both buyers and sellers,’ said Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst.
‘Buyers want to know that they can be the first to find new properties on the market, and sellers expect to have their property marketed as quickly as possible to find a suitable buyer,’ he added.

Shipside pointed out that when selling a property you need to consider local market conditions to help set the asking price and ask your agent how soon they can have your property on the market.

‘Our study looks at the average time from first listing, to being confident enough in the buyer's ability to proceed, to actually mark it up as sold subject to contract. So although some sellers might find a potential buyer in a few days, the averages reflect the time taken to carry out thorough checks to minimise the risk of the sale falling through,’ he explained.
‘A good agent will establish proof of cash, ability to get a…