Investor Insight – Britain’s fastest and slowest sales markets

Investor Insight – Britain’s fastest and slowest sales markets


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New data from Rightmove reveals that Carluke in Scotland is Great Britain’s fastest selling market, with sellers in the area finding a buyer in an average of 24 days. Falkirk follows closely in second place, with homes finding buyers in just 26 days on average, while Larbert takes third place with an average of 27 days to find a buyer.

Scotland remains the quickest market across Britain, finding a buyer in 43 days on average, while Wales takes over from London as this year’s slowest market to find a buyer, with it taking on average 82 days to find a buyer.

Across Britain, it is currently taking 71 days on average for homes to find a buyer, compared with 57 days last year, the longest at this time of year since 2019. Agents report that it is still a very price sensitive market, and buyers are taking their time to find the right home amongst more property choice.

Scotland (taking three days longer to find a buyer) and London (three days longer) are the least affected areas compared to last year. The East of England is the most affected, with it taking an average of 19 days longer to find a buyer than last year.

Swanage in Dorset is the current slowest market, taking an average of 136 days to find a buyer (83 days longer than last year).

Some of the current slowest markets were coastal hotspots during the pandemic years, such as St Ives in Cornwall, which is second slowest, taking 129 days on average to find a buyer (34 days longer than last year) and Brixham in Dorset taking 119 days (44 days longer than last year).

Rightmove’s property expert Tim Bannister says: “As this Spring brings more optimism for movers, it’s important that sellers consider that it’s taking longer to find the right buyer than at this time last year, despite the market being busier. The quickest areas to find a buyer continue to mostly be in Scotland, and it’s only taking two days longer than last year to find a buyer on average across Scotland, compared to two weeks longer on average across Great Britain, highlighting the multi-speed market. Sellers keen to find a buyer as soon as possible this Spring should work closely with their local estate agent, to price accurately for their local area.” 

Britain’s quickest markets 

Area

Region

Average time to find a buyer (days)

Change in time to find a buyer (days) compared to last year

Average asking price

Carluke

Scotland

24

-10

£158,904

Falkirk

Scotland

26

-1

£162,972

Larbert

Scotland

27

-4

£231,293

Upton

South West

27

-13

£349,756

Troon

Scotland

27

-4

£186,595

Port Glasgow

Scotland

27

-20

£124,417

Irvine

Scotland

28

-7

£121,548

Wishaw

Scotland

29

-11

£135,528

Bellshill

Scotland

29

0

£124,661

Denny

Scotland

30

-6

£172,334

Britain’s slowest markets 

Area

Region

Average time to find a buyer (days)

Change in time to find a buyer (days) compared to last year

Average asking price

Swanage

South West

136

+83

£434,203

St Ives, Cornwall

South West

129

+34

£482,818

Skegness

East Midlands

127

+26

£202,719

Werrington

East of England

126

+78

£269,151

Old Colwyn

Wales

123

+50

£227,212

Tettenhall Wood

West Midlands

122

+43

£381,671

Bradwell

East of England

120

+53

£271,483

Shanklin

Isle of Wight

119

+48

£303,128

Cinderford

South West

119

+57

£247,388

Brixham

South West

119

+44

£322,801

 

Regional view 

Region

Average time to find a buyer (days)

Change in time to find a buyer (days) compared to last year

Scotland

43

+3

North East

64

+11

UK

71

+14

West Midlands

71

+16

North West

72

+14

South West

73

+18

London

73

+3

South East

73

+15

Yorkshire and The Humber

73

+16

East of England

75

+19

East Midlands

78

+18

Wales

82

+18

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