Homes take a third longer to sell than two years ago - new figures

A property listings platform has revealed what it describes as ‘the best places to sell a home’ in England and Wales.

The platform Home, working in association with quick buy company Quick Move Now, says Swindon and Strood are the best places to sell based on the lowest average time on the market.

Properties in both towns have the average time on market of 101 days.

London, at the other end of the scale, is home to the 10 locations with the longest average time on market - in one case, with the typical time being 363 days.

“It’s clear from these results that it is now taking longer to sell a property” according to Danny Luke, Quick Move Now's managing director.

“When we looked at the best and worst places to sell [back] in 2017 the top spot, Bedford, had an average time on market of just 76 days. That figure is 25 days less than the current top spot held by Swindon and Strood” he says. 

“At the slower end of the market, in 2017 Sunderland took the top spot with 295 days; 68 days less than Knightsbridge's current average time on market of 363 days.”

Luke says that even in the best areas to sell a property it is taking longer, and homes are on the market for an average of well over three months.

“For comparison, in March 2017, properties in Swindon spent an average of 81 days on the market. By July last year that figure had risen to 89 days, and today it stands at 101 days” adds Luke.

Best Places to sell:

1. Swindon, 101 days
2. Strood, 101 days
3. Gloucester, 102 days
4. Ashford, 104 days
5. Rainham, 106 days
6. Basingstoke, 106 days
7. Coventry, 109 days
8. Tamworth, 110 days
9. Northampton, 111 days
10. Rochester, 112 days

Worst Places to sell:

1. Knightsbridge, 363 days
2. Mayfair, 354 days
3. Marylebone, 346 days
4. South Kensington, 331 days
5. Belgravia, 329 days
6. Soho, 325 days
7. Strand, 325 days
8. Chelsea, 323 days
9. Cromwell Road area, 318 days
10. Paddington, 316 days

Sources: Home/Quick Move Now