Properties take 29% longer than average to sell once offered – Property Industry Eye

Residential properties are currently taking nearly a third more than normal sale once under offer due to divestment delays, new industry data shows.

Movewise has analyzed real estate agency data on almost 500,000 property sales across the UK where contracts have been exchanged in the last 30 and 180 days. The study found that properties take 29% longer to complete.

The company says delays in searching for properties and transport agents dealing with a backlog of cases led to an average time frame for exchanging contracts after an offer was accepted, dropping from 96 to 124 days.

This means, according to research, that any property that went on sale from late November 2020 will likely struggle to complete in time to pass the stamp duty deadline of March 31.

Across all regions, the average time to exchange contracts after bid increased by 37% in Scotland (from 70 to 96 days) and by 32% in the North East (from 87 to 115 days). ). In London, the average exchange time increased by 29%, from 97 to 125 days.

This, according to Movewise, “confirms that there is a bottleneck in the property transfer process as boards struggle to manage the level of property searches requested and transfer agents are drowning under a heavy load. increased work “.

Movewise also analyzed the time to sell a property being listed for contracts in exchange. Comparing transactions in the last 30 days versus 180 days, the average turnaround time was 160 days versus 127 days, an increase of 26%.

Tom Scarborough, CEO and Founder of Movewise, said: “These figures show the pressure that real estate transactions are currently under. Although homes go up for sale an average of five weeks after initial listing, the bottleneck in the divestiture process is a headache for both sides of the deal.

“Buyers always want to go by the stamp duty deadline and sellers should be aware of this before accepting an offer. To avoid the collapse of transactions, any offer made now must be based on the understanding that completion is likely to take place after the end of the tax holiday.

“If necessary, buyers and sellers should enter into any price negotiations before the divestiture process begins. An honest and frank discussion up front could prevent a trade from failing later, after money and time have been spent on research and polling.

Regional data showing the average number of days to sell a property (from listing to trading), comparing transactions that were traded in the past 30 days versus 180 days. The table shows the time it takes to trade contracts once a property is put up for sale: