Homes that sell do so quicker than in 2012, says Rightmove

The housing market may appear sluggish at best in many areas but data from Rightmove suggests it’s now quicker to sell a home in the UK than it was five years ago.

Research undertaken by the portal exclusively for agency Strutt & Parker shows that, on average, a home in the UK sells in 59 days. 

This is more than three weeks faster than in 2012, when it took 81 days.

The agency also says that there is an “elite group” of cities - led by booming Bristol - where the average time to sell a home can be as low as 40 days or less.  

In addition to Bristol (average 34 days), quick-moving cities also included Coventry (35 days), Edinburgh (36), Glasgow (37), Gloucester (39), and Portsmouth and Southampton on 40.

“There has been a resurgence in regional property markets in recent years. This is especially true of cities and has largely been driven by employment as companies have either consolidated regional hubs or set up new ones. The most successful cities, often those with universities, are able to attract highly qualified workers and offer a good quality of life, which inevitably leads to increased demand from home buyers” says Strutts’ head of research, Stephanie McMahon.

The Rightmove research shows only three cities in the UK now have slower property markets than in 2012 - Cambridge, Oxford and Aberdeen, where until relatively recently there had been high levels of price growth but where there are now severe affordability issues. In addition, Aberdeen’s sales and lettings market have been hit by the global slowdown of the oil industry.

Rightmove’s research was of listings from August 2016 to July 2017 and was based on the time taken from the first listing date on its portal to the date when the listing was marked as under offer/sold subject to contract by the agent.