The latest data shows that the average time to sell a home over the last six months currently sits at 248 days, down from an average of 306 days during the previous six months – a drop of 58 days.
By region
At 284 days, the North East is home to the longest average time to sell at regional level, followed by the London (277) and the East of England (259), while the West Midlands (213 days), Wales (225) and Yorkshire and the Humber (228) are home to the quickest transaction timelines.
Wales has seen the largest reduction in the time it is taking to sell a home, down by -83 days in the last six months. London (-76) and the West Midlands (-68) have also seen some of the biggest reductions in the time it’s taking to sell.
At local level
Dartford and the Castle Point area of Essex are currently home to the quickest time to sell a home at just 142 days on average, with Breckland (144), Mole Valley (147) and Bromsgrove (149) also amongst the fastest moving markets.
Ceredigion has seen the largest reduction in the average time to sell, with homes selling -235 days quicker over the last six months, with Breckland (-209) and East Lindsey (-202) also seeing some of the largest reductions.
South Lakeland is the most lethargic pocket of the property market with the average home taking 582 days to sell in current market conditions. It has also seen one of the largest increases in the last six months, up by 205 days, second only to Denbighshire, where the average sale is taking 205 days longer.
This data, sourced by GetAgent.co.uk, is based on the first point of listing on the property portals to the sale being recorded as complete by the Land Registry. Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:
“What we essentially witnessed throughout much of the pandemic was the perfect storm of factors to delay the sale of homes across the UK. An initial industry lockdown, followed by working from home restrictions, furlough and redundancies, meant that the property sector was very much on the back foot from the off.
This was worsened with multiple Covid workplace protocols. The introduction of the stamp duty holiday then led to an overwhelming level of buyer activity hitting the sector like a ton of bricks.
However, it certainly looks as though we have turned a corner and, while it would be inaccurate to say homes are selling particularly fast in the current market, the time it is taking to sell has certainly dropped and by quite some margin in some areas.”
However, this data comes as the HMRC monthly transaction data revealed a dip in residential property sales for January.
Non-seasonally adjusted property sales were 85,520 in January – down 22.2% from December, and down 12.6% from a year earlier. Although figures have dipped, experts say this is reflective of a typical January before the pandemic hit. Non-residential transactions reduced to 9,070; 18.1% down on December 2021 but 21.6% more than a year ago.
Recorded sales over the 2021/22 tax year so far are still higher than any other year for the past decade (currently standing at 1.167 million non-seasonally adjusted).
