It's much slower than last year
The time it takes to sell a home in the UK has increased by around 15 days since this time last year when the market was very strong, property listing website Zoopla has revealed.
The period from the property being first listed to going under offer now takes an average of 35 days, up 71% from just 20 days last year.
Scotland has the shortest sales periods at 28 days as homes are marketed with a survey and valuation. London has the longest time to sell at 44 days, which, according to Zoopla, is further evidence of a return to 2019 levels of market activity.
“Demand has weakened from the red hot conditions of 2022 when buyer demand was very strong and there was a chronic lack of supply,” Richard Donnell (pictured top), executive director of research at Zoopla, commented.
He, however, noted that the time to sell remains below 2019 levels in most areas.
“The average time to sell has peaked now and is starting to fall back as the market continues to improve,” Donnell pointed out. “Higher residential values and affordability pressures in London mean the time to sell remains above average.”
Buyers are returning to the market
Zoopla noted that while it took more time to sell a home this year compared to last year, the sales market continues to see a return of buyers with more new sales being agreed.
“In recent weeks, the demand for homes reached its highest level since last October when the fallout of the mini budget hit activity,” Donnell said.
He added that demand is 16% higher than this time in 2019, with all areas registering an improvement in market conditions.
“We continue to register above-average demand for housing in the most affordable areas led by Scotland, Wales, the North East of England and London,” Zoopla’s research director said. “Demand is weaker in regions where prices jumped the most over the pandemic and where prices are higher than the national average.”
Annual house price growth slows to 4.1%
The latest Zoopla House Price Index has shown that annual house price growth continues to slow to 4.1% – down from 9% a year ago.
The quarterly growth rate has been negative for the last three months, and is the weakest rate of quarterly growth since 2011.
“The annual rate of growth has slowed sharply across major cities, where house price inflation was running in double digits a year ago to less than 6% now,” Donnell noted. “The weakest annual growth is in London, where higher mortgage rates hit demand harder in higher-value markets.”
Zoopla said that the housing market is “in much better shape than many predicted” at the end of 2022, with the market arguably more in balance than at any time for the last three years.
“The market is going through a soft repricing process with modest quarter-on-quarter price falls across all regions and countries of the UK,” Donnell said. “The positive news is that buyers and sellers are agreeing deals which are supporting sales activity. In turn, it drives business plans and revenues for agents, lenders, and builders.
“The shift towards lower mortgage rates has improved market activity. Mortgage rates are set to remain around 4% over much of 2023 and could move lower towards the end of the year.
“While mortgage rates remain twice higher than early last year, we still expect to see one million sales transactions in 2023. We also anticipate ‘peak to trough’ house price falls of up to 5% in localised areas.”
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