Yahoo Finance UK locations where houses are selling fast and where they aren't
UK properties are taking almost two weeks longer to sell than this time last year, new data has shown. During September, homes stayed on the market for an average of 34 days before agreeing sales.
But the North West is the region taking the shortest amount of time to sell, with Liverpool taking top spot as the fastest moving market in England, according to Zoopla. In the North West region, the typical seller agreed an offer within 17 days — half the UK average.
One-bedroom flats were most in demand as the fastest property type to sell. They had an average time of just three weeks (21 days) thanks to a relatively low asking price of £105,000.
This was in contrast to four-bed detached properties taking almost two months (53 days) to sell, with an average price tag of £477,000.
The second and third fastest-moving markets were Manchester and Salford, respectively, where the average time to agree an offer was 21 and 23 days respectively.
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Cities such as Sheffield, Newcastle, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham also made it in to the list of the top 25 fastest-selling markets for the first time since the pandemic with offers typically achieved within 27 days.
Zoopla revealed that only nine of 2022’s fastest areas to sell remained in the 2023 top 25 list this year, with demand for homes significantly dropping in locations that saw the least house price growth over the last five years.
"With buying power reduced by up to 20% thanks to rising mortgage rates, the most affordable homes across the country are selling the fastest," Zoopla said.
"Naturally, this favours markets in the North West and North East of England, where the average home is between £72,000 - £125,000 less expensive than the national average."
Over half (56%) of the fastest selling areas have properties that are below the regional average price, with a typical difference of 16% in areas such as Sheffield in Yorkshire, Port Talbot in Wales, Gateshead in the North East or Carlisle in the North West.
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However, it was a completely different picture in other regions with the Midlands, Wales and Southern England (excluding London) seeing the time it takes to sell a home increase by almost two weeks (12 days) compared to last year.
These areas follow general trends with two-bedroom terraced properties being the fastest property type to sell, as four-bed detached homes take the longest amount of time, with an average of 47 days to see a sale.
Meanwhile, Waltham Forest was the only London borough to sell faster than the UK average, agreeing sales in 24 days.
Izabella Lubowiecka, senior property researcher at Zoopla, said: “Over the last 12 months, the time to agree a sale has increased by almost two weeks. This is due to a few factors: there are fewer buyers in the market alongside cost of living concerns and higher mortgage rates which has meant many have had to pause a search for their next home.
"However, we are now simply seeing a return to more normal market conditions experienced in the years leading up to the pandemic. Anyone thinking about selling should bear this in mind and be prepared that it may take longer to sell their property than in recent years.”
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