The fastest moving regions and property price bands revealed

The North East has been named as the quickest region in England to reach exchange.

Analysis by TwentyEA found 58.4% of property transactions in region progress to exchange within three months.

Yorkshire and The Humber is almost as quick, with 55.6% of sales reaching exchange within three months, followed by the East Midlands at 50.4%, the West Midlands at 49.9% and the North West at 47.6%.

Higher-value transactions can be more exposed to changes in financing, affordability and buyer circumstances.”

Outer London is the slowest at 31.1%.

In Scotland, where a separate legal system operates, transactions typically progress more quickly, with 72% of sales agreed reaching exchange within three months.

The findings come from property data company TwentyEA, part of the TwentyCi Group, and were published in its latest Property & Homemover Report.

Price band distribution

TwentyEA also looked at price bands of properties and examined how time to exchange affected each one.

It found lower-priced properties are progressing to exchange considerably faster than more expensive homes, with more than half (54.2%) of transactions below £200,000 reaching exchange within three months.

This compares with 48.4% of properties priced between £200,000 and £350,000, falling to 39.8% for homes between £350,000 and £1 million and just 38.2% for properties worth £1 million or more.

The divide becomes even clearer after five months, when three-quarters (75.6%) of sub-£200,000 transactions have reached exchange, compared with 58.3% of £1 million-plus sales.

At the other end of the process, 8.1% of £1 million-plus transactions take seven months or longer to reach exchange, more than double the 3.3% recorded for properties below £200,000.

TwentyEA also examined legal tenure and how it impacted time to exchange. It found freehold properties reached exchange considerably faster than leaseholds, with 46.4% of freehold transactions reaching this stage within three months, compared with just 34.9% of leaseholds.

The gap widens slightly by four months, when 59% of freehold transactions have reached exchange compared with 47.3% of leaseholds, a difference of 11.7 percentage points.

By five months, seven in ten (70.4%) freehold transactions have progressed to exchange, compared with 60.4% of leaseholds.

However, the difference narrows substantially by six months, when 96% of freeholds and 94.3% of leaseholds have reached exchange. Leasehold transactions are also more likely to take seven months or longer, at 5.7% compared with 4% of freeholds.

Nick Huntley, Director of TwentyEA, says: “Lower-priced properties carry their momentum through to exchange more effectively. With a broader pool of buyers at the more affordable end of the market, these sales may be better placed to progress quickly, particularly with a higher proportion of agile first-time buyers who have no property to sell.

“Higher-value transactions can be more exposed to changes in financing, affordability and buyer circumstances, alongside additional considerations around original listed features, land boundaries and other complexities commonly associated with properties at the upper end of the market.”

“The figures also highlight the additional time that can be involved in buying and selling a leasehold property. With more parties and paperwork often at play, leasehold transactions can be more challenging, which may contribute to the gap in exchange times compared with freehold homes.”