Nigels require 12% fewer viewings than the second fastest name in the rankings, Mike, and 34% less than the UK average of 15.
While vendors named Louise, the third fastest name for sellers, are taking down the ‘For Sale’ sign in 25% fewer viewings than the national average.
At the other end of the spectrum, sellers called Jason take the longest to sell at nearly double the average number of viewings per sale of a Nigel, and need 31% more than the UK average to complete. Ben, Nicholas, Colin and Darren round out the top five slowest selling names.
House Network compiled the names report using data from 8,883 house sales in the UK.
|
Top 10 fastest selling names (avg viewings per sale) |
||
|
1 |
Nigel |
(9.9) |
|
2 |
Mike |
(11.2) |
|
3 |
Louise |
(11.28) |
|
4 |
Christine |
(11.3) |
|
5 |
Steve |
(11.6) |
|
6 |
James |
(11.7) |
|
7 |
Linda |
(11.8) |
|
8 |
Susan/Craig |
(12) |
|
9 |
Nicola/Ian |
(12.4) |
|
10 |
Sharon |
(12.48) |
|
UK Average |
15 |
|
There appears to be no gender bias at the quickest end of the market, with an equal split of male and female names in the list of the top ten fastest selling monikers.
However, men dominate the 10 slowest selling names as Kate, Lucy and Amanda are the only women’s names to feature this low.
The report also shows that the most common vendor names overall are David, Paul, Andrew and Mark. While away from selling, the same names feature prominently as the most popular on the buying side of the deal. The most common being David again, taking top spot with 1.9% of all purchases. Sarah and Emma are the top buying female names (accounting for 1.1% and 0.7% respectively).
|
Most sales by name in 2015 (%) |
|
|
David |
2.8 |
|
Paul |
2.0 |
|
Mark |
1.9 |
|
John |
1.7 |
|
Andrew |
1.5 |
Mark Readings, House Network CEO, said: “Our first Property Market Names report shows a clear correlation between different first names and speed of sale. While we’re not suggesting any Jasons change their name by Deed Poll, at nearly double the average viewings per sale they certainly lag behind the Nigels and Louises of this world.
It’s hard to put a finger on why Nigels are the quickest sellers; maybe it’s subliminal, maybe buyers just like the sound of the name Nigel, or maybe it’s all down to Nigel Farage’s increased media profile over the last couple of years, who knows!
The frequency of buyers and vendors called David has a more clear cut explanation with this name being a permanent fixture in the top five most popular baby names from 1950-1990 simply meaning there are just more Davids of house buying and selling age.”
