Homes throughout the UK are selling faster than at any point in the last ten years, with the stamp duty holiday credited with speeding up the market.
Property website, Rightmove, are reporting that there has been a 125% annual increase in the number of homes selling within seven days of coming to market – the highest figure recorded since the portal started tracking this data 10 years ago.
When the stamp duty holiday was announced on July 8th through to August 31st, one in seven homes, 33,620, was under offer within a week of being placed on the market, compared to one in 10, 14,924, a year ago.
Just under one third of homes sold within the first two weeks of marketing, compared with one in five in 2019
Sellers of three bedroom semi-detached homes have the best chance of selling their home within a week with one in five three-bedroom semi-detached homes taking a week or under to do so.
Rightmove’s property expert Miles Shipside said: “Not only are more properties selling in the current market than at any time over the past ten years, but many sellers are finding that demand for homes following lockdown and the rush to beat the stamp duty deadline means they’re achieving a quicker sale, but only if they’ve been priced correctly.
“Not every home sells, but those that are well presented by agents, are on at the right price, or are just lucky enough to be in demand are among a record number of homes selling within the first week of coming to market since we started tracking this data ten years ago.
“There’s no point rushing a home to market without carefully thinking through the best way to market it and making sure it looks its best, which is something an expert local agent can help with. However, sellers do need to move more quickly than before because although we’re in unchartered territory with record activity it’s still likely that demand will start to soften as it always does towards the end of the year.
Proportion of all properties that sold within a week, nationally by property type
| Property type | % selling within a week
8 July – 31 Aug 2020 |
% selling within a week
8 July – 31 Aug 2019 |
| All properties | 15% | 10% |
| 3 bed semi-detached house | 19% | 13% |
| 2 bed semi-detached house | 19% | 13% |
| 2 bed terraced house | 17% | 12% |
| 3 bed terraced house | 16% | 11% |
| 4 bed semi-detached house | 16% | 9% |
| 3 bed detached house | 15% | 10% |
| 2 bed bungalow | 14% | 10% |
| 4 bed detached house | 14% | 7% |
| 4 bed terraced house | 14% | 8% |
| 1 bed flat | 11% | 8% |
| 2 Bed Flat | 11% | 8% |
| 5 Bed detached House | 10% | 6% |
“The conveyancing log-jam created by the pause and subsequent market surge means that people thinking of coming to market really need to do so in September or early October if they want to have a chance of completing with enough time to beat the stamp duty deadline. Six months may seem like a while away now, but getting your property ready to sell, finding an agent, marketing the home, finding a buyer and then going through the conveyancing process doesn’t leave much time for any unexpected delays along the way, especially if you’re in a chain.
“Sellers of three bed semi-detached homes are in the sweet spot of the market, as they benefit from being the most in demand and the most likely to sell within a week. The bigger, top of the ladder homes are also proving more popular, though some of this may be a result of home-movers in wealthier areas who would usually have been on holiday bringing their plans forward.”
