There has been a notable increase in the number of estate agents reporting that the average time from offer accepted to exchanging contracts has grown.
According to Propertymark, 41% of agents have reported average times stretching over four months within the past few weeks.
The latest housing market snapshot reveals that the number of new buyers registering per member branch in July has remained lower than in the spring months as summer market conditions continue.
There were nine sales agreed on average per member branch in July – the same number as the previous three months. This figure is close to the pre-pandemic average of eight for July (based on 2010-2019 figures).
Sales agreed as a percentage of stock remains high = at 39% in July. This is compared to the pre-pandemic average of 16% of stock sold in the month of July between 2010 to 2019.
The average number of properties available to buy per member branch was 24 in July. This is still well below the pre-pandemic average of 51 properties available in July (based on 2010-2019 figures). There was little change month-to-month on the number of new instructions per member branch, which sat at nine in July.
When it comes to time to exchange, 41% of Propertymark’s member branches said that the average time from offer accepted to exchanging contracts in July was 17 weeks or more. This is a new record and stands well above the pre-pandemic average for July of only six per cent (based on 2015-2019 figures).
Nathan Emerson, CEO Propertymark, commented: “Our latest data shows a sharp spike in the number of agents reporting the average time taken for sales to complete being 17 weeks or longer.
“This, coupled with lack of stock and high demand in the market, is proving difficult for some first-time buyers or current homeowners as an existing mortgage in principle obtained before setting out to view a property will likely expire before completing on the purchase.”
SOURCE: Property Industry Eye | AUGUST 18, 2022 | MARC DA SILVA
Estate Agents
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