11 April 2023 – That the property market has slowed down is evidenced in new data, which shows that it now takes longer to find a buyer than last year, on average 55 days.
Last spring, it only took on average 33 days to sell a house. But now as the market has slowed down, this number has risen again to 55 days.
While still below pre-pandemic levels, in March 2019, it took on average 67 days to find a buyer for a property, it is a sign that the market is returning to more normal levels.
But Rightmove‘s data shows that while overall it takes longer to sell a house, it’s not the same picture everywhere in the country.
Area Where To Find A Buyer The Fastest In Scotland
The fastest-selling town is Falkirk in Stirlingshire, where on average it only takes 22 days to agree a sale, data by Rightmove has revealed.
Close second is Broxburn in West Lothian, with 23 days, followed by Renfrew in Renfrewshire with 24 days.
Scotland dominates the fast-selling market with the top seven out of the ten fastest selling places being in that country. This gives Scotland an average time to sell a house of 34 days.
However, compared to last year, it is still taking longer, when on average a house in Scotland sold in 22 days.
The slowest area is Brixham in Dorset, where homes take on average 95 days to find a purchaser. That’s 55 days longer than in the previous year.
Bodmin in Cornwall has an average selling time of 92 days and in Heysham in Lancashire it takes on average 89 days. Three out of the five slowest-selling areas are in the South West.
This latest data reflects current buyer behaviours, with more buyers returning to cities and within commuting distance of an office and the speed of the market easing near the coast, which had seen some of the most frantic levels of activity during the pandemic.
Tim Bannister, Director of Property Science at Rightmove
In London sellers need to wait on average 65 days to sell their home, which is slower than the national average of 55 days.
In Some Areas Homes Selling Faster Than Last Year
But Rightmove’s data shows that there are also areas where homes sell even quicker than last year, when the pandemic caused a frenetic market.
In Windsor in Berkshire, houses are sold on average in 58 days, 7 days quicker than last year. Followed by Knaphill in Surrey, where the average home sells in 50 days, 6 days quicker than last year.
Properties in Cowley in Oxfordshire sell 4 days quicker this year than last year, taking on average 68 days to find a buyer. Close on the heels is Ashington in Northumberland, where it is 3 days quicker to sell a house compared to last year. It takes on average 42 days.
In Withington in Greater Manchester it takes on average 43 days to sell a home, which is 2 days quicker than last year.
Reduction In Fall-Troughs In Last Quarter Of 2022
At the end of 2022, the number of sales that fell through has dropped, according to figures by the House Buyer Bureau. In the final quarter of last year 75,809 sales collapsed, which is 15.9% less than in the third quarter of the same year.
This is a clear sign that the market is cooling down. However, the Bureau revealed that fall-throughs cost sellers and buyers over £1 billion in 2022, which is 6.3% more than the previous year.
Even though in the final quarter the number of fall-throughs has dipped, it was still 16.9% higher than in the same period the year before. But it is a clear sign that the housing market is cooling down.
House prices have also seen a dip in the last few months, with house prices now 4.6% below the August peak, according to data from mortgage lender Nationwide.
Sarah Coles from Hargreaves Lansdown sees this as a sign that worse is yet to come.
Unfortunately, the indications for the future aren’t looking terribly promising either. Buyers have been broken by rampant inflation, jacked-up mortgage rates, a stagnating economy, and the threat that there could be worse to come.
Sarah Coles, Head of Personal Finance at Hargreaves Lansdown
With buyer demand down in February and mortgages rising slightly in March, according to Moneyfacts, Coles believes that house prices will initially only fall gradually, but this fall will soon accelerate.
However, it is possible that the recent rise in mortgage rates is only temporary. If it was a reaction to inflation rising more than anticipated, then rates should come down again once inflation falls.
For her, the chances of a soft landing for the housing market are still present, but they have become increasingly unlikely.
