Selling a house in London can be challenging however this will depend on many different factors including how you choose to sell, where in London you are selling, and the property type.
Is now a good time to sell your house in London?
Following the pandemic, there has been an ongoing increase in house prices, with no signs of slowing down. Consequently, now could be a great time to sell your London home – especially if you are looking to move out of London to other big cities where your money could go further. Before house prices drop again, now may be the opportune moment to sell your London home before interest rates increase or buyer demand dwindles.
However, on the other side of this argument is the fact that mortgages are currently harder to get, especially for the younger generation who are looking to get on the property London. That means that although people are still buying properties, it is more difficult to secure financing, especially for properties in big cities like London.
How long do houses take to sell in London?
Properties in London are known for having one of the longest times to sell with an average of 138 days on the market. This could be largely due to the average house price in this region – £477,800 – £239,966 more than the national average in the UK!
When looking at the analysis of house sales in London, it is clear that cheaper properties tend to spend less time on the market. If you are selling a more expensive property, your pool of prospective buyers is likely to be smaller, making it more difficult to sell.
Area of London
There are certain areas of London in which it is easier to sell properties. For example, if you live in a less desirable neighbourhood of London, it can be more difficult to sell your home – although not impossible. Certain areas in South London are growing in popularity in recent years, with many families and young professionals looking to move here.
Generally speaking, areas in outer London are easier to sell than properties in the city centre. Waltham Forest, according to recent analysis, is the London neighbourhood with the fastest sale time – especially for two-bed terrace houses – with an average of just 35 days on the market. Other areas where it seems easy to sell property in London include Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Redbridge, Havering, Bromley, Sutton, Enfield, Greenwich and Newham.
Property type
According to research from home.co.uk, certain London property types spend less time on the market than others. The research suggests that flats have the longest average selling time (145 days) whereas detached homes, semi-detached homes and terraced houses have average selling times of 108 days, 85 days and 96 days, respectively.
The number of bedrooms also has an impact with three-bedroom and four-bedroom properties selling marginally faster than properties with one, two or five bedrooms.
When to sell
When you choose to sell can also impact how difficult the property sale will be. For example, March to July is known to be a good time to sell, along with February, September and October. Property experts suggest not selling during November, December and early January if it can be avoided.
How you choose to sell
The method you choose to sell your home will impact how difficult it will be to sell and how long your house will spend on the market. For example, working with a traditional estate agent means that you will benefit from expertise and local knowledge; however, selling via an estate agent is known to be one of the slower ways to sell your home. On the other hand, if time is of the essence, you might explore selling with a quick cash house buying company. These companies are able to facilitate a very fast sale, regardless of where you live, and there are plenty of these companies operating in London. If you choose to go down this route, you will have a much faster sale, but it is likely that you will sacrifice some of the market value of your home. It will depend on what your key priorities are when selling your home.
