The average time to find a buyer has risen by almost 20% over the past 12 months, research from Moverly has revealed.
Moverly analysed the time it takes to secure a buyer and how this has changed, along with the impact of a positive 2024 market on asking and sold prices.
Monthly mortgage approvals surpassed 60,000 in February and rose every month since, hitting a two-year high in October with 68,303 approvals.
Despite more buyers returning to the market, Moverly advised sellers not to be overly optimistic as the time it takes to secure a buyer has increased, while house prices have remained largely static.
One reason for this trend is the healthy stock of properties for sale.
For sale stock levels in England increased by almost 14% over the last year, reaching a total of 846,455 listings.
This surplus of available homes creates a buyer’s market, shifting the balance of power to buyers rather than sellers.
In such conditions, it’s expected that sellers may need to lower their asking prices to attract buyers.
However, the average asking price over the past 12 months was £367,572, which is actually 0.2% higher than the previous year’s average of £366,881.
Consequently, the average sold price has remained at 77% of the asking price, as buyers contend with high mortgage costs despite recent reductions in the base rate.
Between October 2022 and September 2023, it took an average of 53.9 days to secure a buyer.
In the past 12 months, this has increased by 10.5 days to an average of 64.4 days.
Gemma Young, CEO of Moverly, said: “The housing market is heading in the right direction, and given all of the economic headwinds that we have battled against over the past year, the market has shown great resilience.
“But as of now, we’re still in a situation where stock outweighs demand, and as such sellers might want to be careful not to assume that they will achieve a quick sale or a particularly high price at this moment in time.
“So far, rising buyer demand has more or less been met by healthy stock levels, so our advice to sellers is to remain optimistic, but also be patient.
Young added: “However, sellers and their agents can take simple measures to facilitate a faster process.
“The chance of getting a fast sale — and thus securing a good price — can be increased by providing potential buyers with upfront material information on a property as soon as they express an interest.
“This means they don’t have to go looking for it and there’s less risk of them discovering something unexpected later down the line.
“In addition, agents and sellers going that step further and completing their legal forms upfront have a better chance of locking in their buyers at the offer stage and reducing the time it takes to get to completion.”
