Recent data released by Rightmove highlighted some really interesting new trends which are unfolding in the property market.
It outlined Britain’s house-selling hotspots, and pinpointed the best and worst places to list a property if you’re looking for a quick sale.
According to the research, homes in Carluke in Scotland sell faster than anywhere else in Britain right now, with the typical property there taking just 24 days to find a buyer.
At the other end of the scale, Swanage in Dorset has the slowest housing market, with a typical home taking 136 days.
The rush to buy has slowed down
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On a national level, homeowners in all regions are taking longer to find a buyer than at this time last year, with the average selling time standing at 71 days.
This represents a 14-day slowdown from 2023 and is the longest selling time since 2019.
It's no surprise that many of the areas that have seen a big increase in the time required to find a buyer were, until recently, the very towns that were amongst the most sought-after by buyers.
The race for space is well and truly over. Working from home, whilst very much a part of the working week for many, is now less common as employers and their employees see the benefits of returning to the workplace.
It means many town and city dwellers who dashed to purchase a home to live out the rural idyll have had second thoughts.
More properties in Wales and the west country and seaside towns are currently coming to market, with comparatively fewer purchasers looking to buy them. I suspect this will continue in the weeks and months ahead.
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Jonathan Rolande shared his analysis
Jonathan Rolande
Fewer people are as willing to holiday in this country, which, combined with a gradual tightening of holiday letting regulation and its tax regime means landlords have also been exiting, increasing the volume of property coming to the market.
It is not unusual for a property worth up to half a million pounds to take three or four months to sell. We have not, for now at least, transitioned from boom to bust, more boom to normality.
Sellers don’t hold all of the cards, but neither do buyers. We have a reasonable balance where the seller will only find a buyer at a fair market price. Where they are too optimistic is where we will see long gaps between homes going on the market and actually selling.
Jonathan Rolande is a property expert from the National Association of Property Buyers and Home Sale Hub
