The number of sellers looking for a quick sale increased by 82% year-on-year, Open Property Group has revealed.
Open Property Group analysed current market stock data, looking at the volume of homes listed as needing a quick sale, the discount available to buyers who can move fast, and how this changed over the past year.
There were 3,543 homes listed for sale across England specifying the need to sell quickly – 82% more versus this time last year.
While the North West was home to 18% of this total, Yorkshire and the Humber saw the largest increase, with a 98% jump in the number of sellers looking to sell fast.
The South East (+95%) and West Midlands (+93%) also saw the number of sellers in a rush to sell almost double on an annual basis.
Analysis of Government data by Open Property Group showed that this correlated with a rise in divorce cases, with an average of 29,420 started during the first three months of the year – 3.1% more versus the quarterly average seen over the rest of the year.
Since 2014, a total of 294,198 divorce cases were started during the first quarter of the year, accounting for more than a quarter (26%) of the 1.1 million total divorce cases started in the past 10 years.
The total annual number of divorce cases increased by an average of just 0.3% each year since 2014, but the number of cases started during the first quarter of the year has increased by an average of 1% each year during the same time period.
Open Property Group found that the average price of a home in need of a quick sale came in 10.6% below wider market values – a saving of almost £30,000.
The South West was home to the largest quick sale discount at 12.9%, closely followed by the North West (-12.9%) and London (-11.8%).
Jason Harris-Cohen, CEO of Open Property Group, said: “We’ve seen a huge surge in the number of homes entering the market with the specific requirement of a quick sale and this is an increase that is being seen at a national scale.
“While there are numerous reasons that a seller may need to sell their home quickly, one unfortunate trend that we see at this time of year, in particular, is an increase in cases driven by divorce.
“It’s a difficult situation to find yourself in and most couples going through a separation simply want to get their home sold and move on with their lives.
“As a result, they are more willing to adjust their asking price expectations and accept a lower offer if it means a swift sale, rather than having the process drag on for months on end for the sake of a few thousand more pounds.”
