Fewer homes sell within two weeks of hitting the market

Barrows and Forrester reveal that the level of homes being snapped up within two weeks of being listed has fallen to 6.8%. That is 11.2% less compared with six months ago. 

For sale stock levels across the major property portals were analysed by the Estate and lettings agent. Homes that have been listed within the last 14 days, the percentage of these already sold subject to contract, and how this has changed since June 2022 were also assessed.

According to the findings, the market conditions have cooled more recently.

UK areas that have seen a drop

The statistics reveal every area of the UK has seen a drop. This indicates that buyer demand is starting to slow. 

Across Wales, 5.8% of homes listed within the last two weeks have been sold subject to contract. Compared to six months ago that is a -6.5% drop from 12.3%. 

Other parts of the UK that have seen a steady decline include Scotland (-6.3%), the West Midlands (-5.1%), and the East of England (-5%).

Increases were only seen across two areas. Liverpool has seen a 4.5% increase over the past six months with 15% of all homes listed within the last 14 days securing a buyer. Leeds has also seen a marginal uplift of +0.2%. 

Managing director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented: “The property market has been moving at an extreme pace in recent years, with a vast number of homebuyers fighting it out for limited stock as soon as it reaches the market.”

“In many cases, we’ve seen numerous buyers offering on a property within weeks, if not days of it being listed online and this has been one of the driving factors behind the meteoric rates of house price growth that we’ve seen up and down the nation.”

“However, this feeding frenzy certainly looks to be subsiding to some extent as the increasing cost of borrowing has dampened the appetite of the nation’s buyers.”

“That’s not to say that homes aren’t still selling, or achieving a good price when doing so, but there has been a notable reduction in the urgency with which buyers are acting.”