55 days to sell! That’s the new average time it takes to sell a property in the UK.
- At 55 days, the average time taken to sell a property (from listing to sold subject to contract) is nearly two weeks faster than the last so-called ‘normal’ market of 2019 (67 days).
- Rightmove report the number of sales agreed in March 2023 is just 1% lower than in March 2019, while buyer demand is 8% stronger.
- Smaller properties of two bedrooms or less are proving the most sought after at present. Sales agreed in this sector are up 4%, and demand is 11% higher than in 2019.
- Besides Scotland, properties are currently selling more quickly than the national average in the North East, West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the South West. Source: Dataloft, Rightmove https://www.rightmove.co.uk/, based on month of March.
55 days to sell a property
So the average time to sell a property in the UK has fallen form 67 to 55 days in March 2023.
So what!? This is a question you may well ask as for some people 55 days still seems a long time. Also, bearing in mind 55 days is an average, that means some properties take much longer!
Let’s take those two points in order:
- 55 days is nearly two weeks faster than it was in March 2019. March 2019 was when the property market was considered ‘normal’. In those days that seem a lifetime away now, we were asked to come round and ‘value my house’ or just asked to ‘sell my house please’ and it took around 70 days to do this. Since March 2020 the market has been anything other than ‘normal’, and it is unlikely that in the short term we will return to the selling times of the last 3 years when you could easily sell in a matter of days!
- Why does it take 55 days now? Why did it take 70 days back in 2019. Back in 2019, when the market was considered normal (no Covid, no Lockdowns etc.)? Well the answer is quite simple. OVER PRICING! March 2019 the Bank of England base rate was just 0.75%. Money was cheap to borrow and there were buyers a plenty. House prices were rising and some homeowners and indeed estate agents got greedy. Simply put: IF A PROPERTY IS OVER PRICED IT WILL NOT SELL. To be brutally honest, back then some did sell at inflated prices, however in nearly every case they fell through when the mortgage company valued the property. Today with a base rate of 4.5% and therefore much more expensive mortgages (although they are on the way down), there are not as many buyers. Also there are not as many properties coming to market. This means Estate Agents are (in many cases), over pricing just to get the instruction. In Harlow this week there were 387 properties for sale. 139 of them (36%) have undergone a price reduction. Many of those 139 have undergone more than 1 price reduction.
Sales agreed in March 2023 & buyer demand.
Sales agreed in March 2023 were just 1% lower than March 2019 and it’s encouraging to see that buyer demand is up 8%. The fact the mortgage rates continue to drop must be the main driving force behind this. Whilst April 2023 figures are not in yet, early signs suggest the figures may be even healthier.
2 bedrooms or less are the most sought after.
1 & 2 bedrooms are the most sought after properties in March 2023 (up 4%). As ‘Estate Agents Herts’ and ‘Estate Agents Essex’ we are seeing that stat stack up in our areas. Demand for these 1 & 2 bedroom properties are up 11%.
We are also seeing the demand for 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom properties increase as the demand for 1 & 2 bedroom properties will and is creating a ripple effect in the larger properties.
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