What’s the Average Time to Sell a House in North London?

If you are thinking about selling a property in north London, you are probably wondering how long the selling process will take. There are many factors that influence the speed of a property sale, including the local market conditions, pricing and property condition.

The type of property will also impact the length of time it takes to sell. For example, data from Rightmove shows that flats sold faster in Dollis Hill compared to houses. In Queens Park, period homes tend to sell faster but it depends on how many similar properties are on the market at the time you decide to sell.

Read on to find out the average times to sell a house in north London and to get some tips on how you can achieve a faster sale – whether you need to downsize your house or sell a leasehold property.

What Is The Average Time To Sell A House?

According to Zoopla, the average time it takes to sell a property in the UK is 185 days. However, there is a large variance is times to sell in different areas of the UK. In north London specifically, some areas have significantly faster sale times compared to the UK average.

For example, recent data shows that the average time to sell a property in Cricklewood was 137 days. In Kilburn, there is a similar selling time average of 136 days. Meanwhile, in Harlesden, the average time is 135 days to sell a property.

What Influences How Fast Your Home Sells?

These are some of the key factors that will affect how long it takes to sell a home:

• Local housing market – Whether you are selling in a hot or cold market will influence the time it takes to sell. If there is a higher demand than supply in the local area, properties will usually sell faster.
• National property market – The wider property market and national economy factors can also influence the speed of sale. For example, high interest rates can slow the housing market down, as would-be buyers may wait to see if rates reduce.
• House type – The level of demand for the specific property type is also a factor. For example, if there is a high demand for family properties in areas with good schools, and limited properties of this type on the market, a sale will usually be quicker.
• Chain length – If your buyer is in a property chain, it may take longer to sell as they need to wait for the properties above them in the chain to be sold. If a sale in the chain falls through, this could considerably extend the length it takes to sell. Finding a cash buyer can speed up the length of the sale process.
• Leasehold or freehold – Freehold properties generally sell faster as there are fewer complexities compared to leasehold properties. Buyers may be cautious of purchasing a leasehold property, particularly if the lease term is short and they may need to extend the lease at some point in the near future.
• Whether you are buying and selling – If you are just selling a property and not buying, the process will be less complicated, with less potential for delays in the property chain. If you are simply selling, there is only one property transaction to work through.

Does The Time Of Year Affect The Speed Of Sale?

Yes, the property market tends to experience seasonal fluctuations. For example, many people won’t want the upheaval of moving house around holiday periods like Christmas, or they may have summer holidays planned. Usually, the housing market speeds up at around February through to June and then slows down from July and August, before a second peak in September and October.

What Can Hold Up A House Sale?

There are many different factors that can slow down a house sale, including:

Survey issues

If the homebuyer’s survey reveals issues, it will likely hold up the sale. The buyer may request that the seller arranges and pays for repairs before the exchange of contracts and it will take additional time for the rectifying work to be done. Another option is that the buyer requests a price reduction to cover the cost of rectifying the issue, which shouldn’t hold up the sale too much if the seller agrees to this approach.

Survey issues could result in the buyer pulling out of the purchase, in which case the sale process would need to start again and this could take a long time, and you may choose to rectify the issue before putting the property back on the market to prevent the same problem from reoccurring.

Inefficient conveyancers

The speed at which the conveyancers work can also impact the time taken to complete the sale process. If the buyer’s conveyancers are not very proactive at getting searches and surveys completed, this can cause hold ups.

Conveyancers may be dealing with high workloads when they are handling high volumes of property transactions, especially at peak times of the year (e.g. spring and early summer).

Eagerness for buyer to move in

The situation that your buyer is in will also influence the sale process length. If they are not in a rush to move or they have holidays planned, they will not be putting pressure on their conveyancers to speed the sale up.

However, if your buyer wants to move into the property as quickly as possible, they will push for a faster sale and will want to agree a quick completion date.

Seller readiness to move

Obviously, you can make sure that you are ready to move out as soon as possible but there may be other factors to consider, such as whether a property you are buying is ready for exchange and completion or whether a rental property you are moving into is available.

You can look at options such as putting your belongings into storage and moving into temporary accommodation to ensure that you don’t hold up the sale at your end.

How To Make Your Home Sell Faster

If you want to try and achieve a fast sale, these are some techniques that can help:

Prepare the home

Get your property prepared for viewings as quickly as possible by de-cluttering, cleaning and seeing to any minor repairs. Make your property as appealing as possible to prospective buyers by enhancing kerb appeal by tidying up the garden, refreshing walls with a new coat of paint and consider using a home staging service.

Choose a good estate agent

By choosing an estate with good local market knowledge and a history of successful sales in the area, you will improve your chances of a faster sale. Research the available agents and prioritise ones who have good marketing strategies and have lots of experience selling properties in the area.

A local agent with a good reputation will usually be able to find a buyer faster than online agents, for example. Your estate agent will also be able to chase solicitors to help keep the sale progressing smoothly.

Price the property realistically

If you have time to wait for higher offers, you can set a higher price but if you are looking for a fast sale, your property price should be in line with the local market. You may even want to price it slightly below the market valuation to help achieve a quicker sale. An experienced estate agent will be able to accurately price the property to prioritise a faster sale.

Prioritise cash buyers and first-time buyers

If you have lots of interest in your property, you can be more selective when accepting an offer. If a cash buyer puts in an offer, selling to them can speed up the sale as there won’t be any hold ups from a property chain. First-time buyers will also be free of a property chain, as they won’t be relying on the sale of a property to buy yours.

Know the average time to sell a house where you live?

Property sales involve a large amount of legal work and there are lots of factors that will affect how long it takes to sell your property, many of which will be outside of your control. However, with a proactive and experienced estate agent, you can improve the likelihood of achieving a fast sale.

We have many years of experience in selling north London properties in areas including West Hampstead, Neasden and Kensal Rise. We would be happy to provide you with a valuation and to discuss our sales services in more detail.