Property Transactions taking 23% longer to complete!

- Wed 11 Sep 2024

If you are looking to move, you may have considered the time between an offer being agreed and the moving day somewhere around 12 weeks, which is quite often quoted. Those paying more attention to the property market since Covid may have been aware it was taking longer, and perhaps were thinking 14 weeks. Well according to the independent data company, Twenty EA, the average a decade ago was 94 days (13.4 weeks) and has now risen to 122 days (17.4 weeks)!

As a result of the property market settling after the 2023 mortgage rate hikes, properties are taking longer to attract buyers. According to Rightmove, the average time is now 71 days, extending the total selling process to over 6 months from marketing to moving.

Managing Director at Bradleys Estate Agents, Chris Baxter commented “We have been very aware of increasing timescales for home buyers and sellers over recent years, and coming up with ways to combat this for those needing to move quickly. Our auction sales for instance can speed up a move, which could be as quick as 66 days from start to finish, we have also grown our conveyancing offering, which not only offers people a no sale no fee service but on average complete 3-4 weeks quicker than the national average.”

An additional factor for home movers to consider following the report from Twenty EA is the number of abortive transactions has risen over the last ten years as well. This is when a sale/purchase is agreed, with one party changing their mind and withdrawing from the transaction leaving everyone else having to start again.

The average ‘fall through rate’ has been running at somewhere between 20-25% of all sales. With transactions taking longer this has increased, sometimes due to personal circumstances, other times due to a change of mind or seeing an alternative property. Regardless of the reasoning, home movers should be factoring in the possibility this could happen.

Bradleys Estate Agents offer the Complete Property Service, a full range of moving services all under one roof from the best local companies, including sales, lettings, auctions, new homes, conveyancing, mortgages and surveyors. Contact your local branch for further information.

Arrange a valuation here.

Property Transactions taking 23% longer to complete!

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