Sale times slip as property industry grapples with pandemic backlog

A logjam of properties is to blame for times increasing, according to quick-sale specialist HBB.

Property sales are taking three weeks longer to complete compared to deals sealed before the Covid pandemic, according to property purchase specialist HBB Solutions.

A backlog is to blame for the delays, according to HBB, which said the average sale time is now 248 days from instruction.

For quick-sale specialist HBB, there has been some slippage in its average completion times to 85 days as well.

The East Midlands has seen the worst logjams, where the current sale time for HBB is averaging 103 days, up by 159% (63 days) compared to the pre-pandemic market.

In London, the average property is taking HBB 77 days to sell, the second largest pandemic market delay, up 120% (42 days) since 2019.
Bucking the trend are Wales and the East of England, where sales are going through in slightly quicker times than before Covid.

chris hodgkinson hbb solutions

Chris Hodgkinson, HBB Solutions managing director, (pictured) said: “The pandemic property market boom has seen a substantial and sustained level of buyer activity sweep the market over the last two years and, as a result, homes sellers have been securing a buyer at great speed.

“However, such heightened demand has led to significant delays during the final legal stages, which it’s fair to say, weren’t the most streamlined to begin with. This has led to a backlog of transactions left in limbo between accepting an offer and completing, and this has been the contributing factor behind a prolonged home selling timeline.

“Even professional quick sale specialists such as ourselves are being affected and it is taking around three weeks longer on average” he added.

Wasted time

Another survey by HBB revealed last month that many agencies are feeling the effects of sales falling through.

The biggest issue for them was that it had wasted their time for 41 per cent of those canvassed, with wasted financial resources also a major issue for 34 per cent.

Also, a third said that, following a sale falling through, their vendor then chose to re-list with another agent, even when they were not to blame.
HBB said a quarter of estate agents saw 10 per cent or more transactions fall through over the last year, with 46 per cent reporting that buyers were most to blame.

Propertymark revealed last year that each sales fall-through costs agents £4,000 on average.


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