Research from Post Office Mortgages found properties in Edinburgh and Bristol sell quickest.
Properties in Bristol and Edinburgh sell fastest in the UK in an average of 51 and 53 days while those in Swansea and Liverpool have the longest wait to be sold at over 100 days, new research has Post Office Money Mortgages has found.
House price hotspots Brighton and London have seen the sharpest increase in the typical time that properties spend on the market, taking more than 20% longer to sell, according to the latest city rate of sale report from the Post Office.
The report, which examines the average time a property takes to sell in 20 major cities across the UK, found that overall the average UK property takes 91 days to sell.
Edinburgh has seen the biggest fall in the typical time properties have spent on the market over the past year with the average home taking 25% less time to sell compared to last year.
In contrast, the housing markets in Brighton and London, some of the best performing areas since the financial crisis, have seen the sharpest increase in the typical time that properties have spent on the market with Brighton seeing a 24% increase and London a 20% increase.
The report says that in part these movements in time on the market reflect changes in the number of properties listed for sale in the cities. For instance, time on the market in Bristol has risen over the past year by 17.5% as strong house price growth has begun to attract more properties for sale despite the fact it is still the quickest selling city in the UK.
With the exception of Swansea, where prices have remained steady, house prices have risen in each of the cities analysed in this report over the last year. The average price of a home in the UK rose by 8.7% in the year to June 2016. However, despite these rising prices, there are indications that the housing market pressure softened recently, with falls in both demand and supply.
John Willcock, head of mortgages at Post Office Money, said: "While house prices continue to rise across the country, for eager sellers it is important to remember that this might not give you the full picture or any guarantee of a successful sale, particularly as the local housing supply responds accordingly. Even property hotspots such as London are not necessarily guaranteed to sell quickly.
"Despite these rising prices, our report indicates that pressure on the housing market has softened recently, with falls in both demand and supply. In part, this reflects the introduction of a stamp duty surcharge on second homes at the beginning of April,’ he explained.
"In the final months of 2016 and in to the new year we can expect this slowdown to intensify, with economic uncertainty from the UK’s decision to withdraw from the European Union adding to the current pressures faced across the market.
"As a result, some local property markets could be impacted significantly as weaker demand coincides with more properties coming onto the market as seen in London over the past 12 months."
