Three postcode areas in Greater Manchester have been named amongst the ‘slowest’ property markets in the UK. Latest data shows that house sale transactions are taking an average of 122.5 days to complete across the country, according to Property Solvers’ speed of sale tool.
Updated monthly, the latest data analysed almost 100,000 property sales across the UK between February 2023 and February 2024. The statistics track the moment a property is listed for sale on a range of different property portals to the point it’s marked as officially ‘sold’ at the HM Land Registry.
According to the data, some of the quickest areas to sell a property at the moment include Maesteg in South Wales (CF34), Kirkcaldy in Scotland (KY2) and Immingham in Lincolnshire (DN40). In the top 10 areas, Property Solvers revealed that homes took 96 days to sell on average.
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On the other hand, in the bottom 10 postcodes, the data showed that properties were taking 147 days to sell on average. Two areas in Bolton and one in Wigan where amongst the UK’s ‘slowest’ property markets, where homes are taking much longer to sell than the average time.
BL7
The BL7 postcode, which covers the Bolton areas of Bolton, Belmont, Bromley Cross, Chapeltown, Edgworth, Egerton and Turton, was the second slowest sales market in the UK.
Homes here take an average of 153 days to sell, with an average house price of £315,055.
WN5
Wigan was next on the list with homes in its WN5 postcode taking an average of 144 days to sell. This postcode covers the areas of Billinge, Newtown, Higher End, Orrell, Pemberton, Winstanley, Worsley Hall and Marsh Green, where homes sell for an average of £185,710.
BL6
The BL6 postcode area, covering Bolton, Blackrod, Horwich, Lostock, Rivington was also named amongst the slowest property markets.
Houses sell for an average price of £234,971 here, and take around 143 days to get snapped up.
(Image: PA)
Homes were selling the slowest in the Royston (SG8), taking an average of 157 days to sell, and Neston (CH64), Watford (WD19), Margate (CT9), Reigate (RH2), Canterbury (CT2) and Stourport-On-Severn (DY13) were also amongst the least quickest.
Ruban Selvanayagam of Property Solvers commented: “Whilst we’re starting to see some noticeable improvements into 2024, the continued pressures on the mortgage sector and buyers’ ability to secure the right kind of finance has resulted in delays with sales completing.
“Combined with the recognised ‘snail pace’ nature of the conveyancing process, it’s likely that these trends are likely to remain for some time.”
