Scottish homes spend half the amount of time on the property market, compared to the rest of the UK

• Edinburgh and Glasgow are currently the fastest places to sell a property, with homes in these locations coming off the market more than two months quicker than popular southern cities London and Brighton
• The average time it takes to sell a property in the UK is currently 84 days – over one week longer than the same period last year
• Middlesbrough homes take the longest to sell compared to other UK cities; currently more than 114 days (16.3 weeks) on average
• The locations that have the most improving housing markets are Newcastle and Middlesbrough, where properties are taking 19 and 16 days less to sell than last year

Homes across the UK are taking on average 84 days to sell (12 weeks), nine days longer than last year, according to the latest data provided by Barclays Mortgages and Hometrack analysis of Zoopla listings data. However, the picture across the UK is mixed, with areas such as Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Cardiff and Wolverhampton showing improving market conditions.

Across the UK, Scotland is the fastest property market to sell a home with the research revealing it takes just over one month to sell a home in Edinburgh and Glasgow, 31 days and 39 days respectively (4.4 and 5.5 weeks) – though homes here were selling about one week faster last year.

In the Welsh capital, Cardiff, it takes one week less than last year to sell a property, spending on average 60 days (8.5 weeks) on the market. A combination of infrastructure investment, large student numbers, significant job creation in the New Year and below national average house prices have all helped to speed up sales.

Other locations that have the most improving housing markets are Newcastle and Middlesbrough, where properties are taking 19 and 16 days less to sell than last year (2.7 and 2.2 weeks). Additional cities which showed homes are spending less time on the property market include: Liverpool (13 days or 1.9 weeks), Cardiff (6 days or 0.9 weeks), Wolverhampton (5 days or 0.8 weeks) and Bradford (4 days or 0.6 weeks). Whereas the housing markets in Birmingham and Sheffield have remained mostly static.

In terms of areas showing slowdowns, homes in Derby have experienced the biggest increase in time spent on the property market, with properties in the city taking almost one third longer to sell compared to last year – an increase of over one month or 34 days (4.8 weeks).

Overall, homes in Middlesbrough spend the longest amount of time on the market (114 days/16.3 weeks), which is down from 130 days last year or 18.5 weeks, partly due to the disproportionate number of buy-to-let properties affected by tax changes and low demand. 

Hannah Bernard, Head of Mortgages at Barclays, said: “The property market has many components to it which can make it tricky to navigate especially for first time buyers. We want to help our customers become more knowledgeable about the overall market and provide a guide for them to make the most informed decisions they can when deciding to move home. Our research not only shows the changes in the market over the past year, but also acts as a predictor to what we might be able to expect in the months to come. We value our customers and do our best to speed up the process to get them to purchase their new home as fast as possible. We offer speedy home mortgage applications, averaging 11 days to process.

“By looking at the time of sale, prospective buyers and sellers can have a better overall knowledge of the time it may take to sell their home and where in the UK the changes are. Our aim is to make sure customers are confident in the decisions they make as well as aware and prepared for the financial implications associated with moving home.”

Table 1: Regional table showing average time to sell a property

Source: Hometrack N.B. data was supplied in weeks, days are approximate.

For further information on Barclays range of mortgages, go to: http://www.barclays.co.uk/mortgages

Notes to Editors

Barclays Mortgages are able to ensure the sales process is as speedy as possible. With the  Barclays App, customers have access to the mortgage calculator and Agreement in Principle tools, to assist in the mortgage application process. Evening and weekend mortgage appointments are available; in addition to face-to-face mortgage applications with Mortgage Experts, customers can book one over the phone, video conferencing and through a web chat.

Barclays customers have access to a number of tools to help them get to purchase their new home fast

1.      Extended flexible access to Mortgage Experts via 0800 022 4022 seven days a week (7am – 10:30pm Monday to Sunday – excluding bank holidays)

2.      Evening and weekend mortgage appointments; phone and video appointments as well as face to face, and web chat

3.      Use of automated valuations (AVMs) to get an instant lending decision on purchases, remortgages and BTL remortgages rather than wait for a valuer to visit and value the property

4.      Customers can scan and send their supporting documents directly to us to support their mortgage application

5.      Auto-income verification for a proportion of customers which reduces the need for paper documents

6.      Mortgage offers that can be extended to 12 months to help customers buying a new build property

7.      Easy to use mortgage calculators and Agreement in Principle tool to help customers to assess what they can borrow and confidence over our ability to lend to them

8.      Family Springboard Mortgage - helps customers to get on the ladder sooner rather than having to wait to save a deposit. A family helper contributes 10% of the property purchase price into a Helpful Start account as security on the mortgage. It will earn an attractive rate of interest for the fixed rate period, and then returned to the family helper. The interest rate tracks a margin of 1.50% above the Bank of England Base Rate

9.      Participation in all major affordable housing schemes e.g. HTB, shared ownership

10.   Track-it application so that customers can monitor how their application is progressing

11.   Family Affordability Plan, also known as Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor ; harnessing the income of a parent to support the mortgage affordability for (typically) a FTB without the parent being a joint owner of the property