According to Propertymark’s housing report for July, a record 41 per cent of estate agents reported this extended timescale. This is significantly above the pre-pandemic average between 2015 and 2019, when just six per cent of agents said the period from offer to exchange took that long.
Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, said: “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.”
There was a dip in new buyers registering with estate agents, with respondents citing an average of 62 people per branch. This was down from 75 in June.
The association attributed this to people focusing on summer and their holidays.
Sales agreed below asking prices
The number of sales agreed on average per member branch stood at nine in July, which was flat on the previous three months. It was also similar to the pre-pandemic average of eight per branch.
The share of housing stock with sales agreed came to 39 per cent per branch, a rise from June’s figure of 33 per cent. This was also up on the pre-pandemic average of 16 per cent.
The proportion of buyers securing a property for below the asking price sat at 36 per cent of sales, compared to 27 per cent the month before.
Propertymark said available housing supply was stable with 24 properties per branch, a slight dip on the average of 26 homes available in June. This is below the pre-pandemic average of 51 available homes.
The number of new instructions stayed unchanged at nine.
