Time On Market soars in England and Wales according to listings website

The average time on the market for a property is soaring across the UK thanks to Brexit uncertainty, according to the latest market monitor from the listings platform Home.

London is the worst affected by what the platform calls “this crisis of confidence brought on by Brexit uncertainty” with a lack of demand meaning the ‘Typical Time On Market’ for unsold property has soared by 23 per cent in the past year. 

The Typical Time On Market for unsold property in England and Wales is now 89 days, 11 days longer than in May last year.

The monthly snapshot says: “Negative sentiment is increasing and has acted to apply the brakes to the normally surging late spring property market, as evidenced by Typical Time on Market figures which are longer in every single English region and Wales and Scotland.”

In addition to London, the worst hit areas are the East of England (where Time On market is now 25 per cent higher than a year ago), the South West and the South East (both 20 per cent higher than in May 2018). 

Overall, annualised price growth in England and Wales remains just in the red at minus 0.2 per cent despite spring optimism lifting asking prices in all the English regions, Wales and Scotland. “This appears to be driven by wishful thinking on the part of a reduced number of vendors rather than by demand, as properties spend longer and longer on the market” warns the website.

London’s annualised losses have notched back slightly from minus 3.1 to minus 2.9 per cent and now total 6.7 per cent since the start of the price decline first recorded by Home in May 2016. 

However, Home warns that the capital’s Typical Time On Market for unsold property is now at its longest May value for 10 years and double that of five years ago.

“Demand is clearly still falling but so too is supply in the capital region. The number of new instructions that entered the market last month was 28 per cent down on the total recorded in April 2018. This means that nearly a third of potential vendors have chosen not to sell at this time, thereby creating a severe scarcity” the platform says. 

“Whether or not supply has fallen sufficiently to compensate for the lack of demand remains to be seen. However, it should be noted that the total stock of property in London has fallen 17 per cent over the last 12 months, thereby setting the stage for rapid price recovery when demand increases to a more normal level.”