In a year that was undoubtedly dominated by Brexit, the UK housing market managed to tick along - but it was tough.
GetAgent.co.uk pulls data from all of the major portals which they then cross-reference with the Land Registry using proprietary algorithms to create a comprehensive record of what is selling, where, for how much and how long it’s taking.
The research shows that on average across the nation, home sellers were seeing their home take 256 days to sell from first listing it online, until the point the sale completed, climbing to 295 in the capital.
This average time increased throughout the year, with it taking 250 days during the first quarter of 2019, having increased 8.5% to 271 days by the final quarter, up 3.3% between Q3 and Q4 alone.
The pocket of the nation that endured the biggest market slowdown was Eden, where the average property sale took 393 days to complete! Westminster was home to the second-longest selling time and worst in London, taking 390 days to complete. Ceredigion ranks as the slowest market in Wales with the average sale dragging out for 388 days, while homeowners in Islington (373), Camden (333), Copeland (332) and Richmond (331) also saw their sale take longer than 330 days.
Other areas to make the list of top 20 longest house sales of 2019 include Gwynedd, Kensington and Chelsea, Bournemouth, Lambeth and Malvern Hills.
But it’s not all bad news for UK homeowners and as always, some areas of the market defied wider market conditions to enjoy much shorter selling times.
The best in the nation was Nuneaton and Bedworth, where the average property took just 191 days from the first listing online to complete. Torfaen was the best performing market in Wales with homes selling in 193 days on average, while Bromsgrove in the Midlands ranked third at 197 days.
Other areas to see the time to sell sit below 210 days include Trafford, Bolsover, North East Lincolnshire, Stockport, Walsall, Charnwood, Wellingborough, Mansfield, Redditch and Coventry.
In London, Bexley (230), Barking and Dagenham (235) and Newham (247) were home to the quickest home sales of 2019.
Colby Short, Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, commented: “It’s clear that the ongoing market uncertainty surrounding Brexit had a direct impact on selling times across the nation over 2019, increasing almost consistently throughout the year and culminating with the longest selling times seen all year, due to a combination of pre-election angst and a seasonal market slowdown in the final quarter of the year.
However, as always, the UK property market is a patchwork quilt constructed of many different markets, all acting independently with their own levels of demand and rates of house price growth. So while the average home seller had no choice but to twiddle their thumbs for almost eight and a half months before completing, for many, this happened much quicker.
Looking ahead, it’s now clear that December’s election result has spurred an almost immediate market revival and with high levels of activity returning on both the buyer and seller side of the fence, growing momentum should see the time taking to sell reduce substantially over the coming year.”
