The average time taken from putting an offer in for a property to exchanging has now reached 13 to 16 weeks, research has found.
Propertymark said this was down to the huge demand in the property sector and stressed that mortgage brokers and moving companies were overwhelmed, which was adding to the backlog.
The estate agency body warned of delays in the sector in March, when the average time between offer and exchange had reached 17 weeks. At the time, 27 per cent of transactions were seeing such delays, which was the highest proportion on record.
This occurred when it was originally thought that the stamp duty holiday would end that month.
Speaking on the current backlog, Propertymark’s CEO Nathan Emerson said: “A lot of people who are new to the market may not realise how different things are right now.”
He suggested that any buyers and sellers who were hoping to move into a new property by Christmas begin the sales process now.
Emerson added: “Historically we have all been very used to sales taking six to eight weeks to go through, sometimes maybe even four. The current market is a very different beast though, and people really do need to be aware that they must plan ahead.”
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
