Properties in Bristol and Edinburgh sell on average twice as quickly as those in Swansea and Liverpool, new research by Post Office Money Mortgages has revealed.
Sellers in Bristol and Edinburgh took the least amount of time to wait, with homes on the market for an average of 51 and 53 days, respectively.
Cities to the West of the UK were most likely to see a long wait, with homes in Swansea and Liverpool taking the longest to be sold – typically taking over 100 days to sell in both cities.
The report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that the average UK property takes 91 days to sell.
With the exception of Swansea house prices in each of the 20 cities analysed in the report have risen over the last year – up 8.7% on average.
The housing markets in Brighton and London have seen the sharpest increase in the typical time that it takes to sell, with Brighton seeing a 24% increase and London a 20% rise.
It takes 89 days to sell a house in London, longer than Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Brighton and Edinburgh.
John Willcock, head of mortgages at Post Office Money, said: “House prices continue to rise across the country but eager sellers should remember that this might not be any guarantee of a successful sale. The attractive asking prices can lead many people to put their property on the market, leading to competition in the local market. Even property hotspots such as London are not necessarily guaranteed to sell quickly.”
“Despite these rising prices, our report indicates that the housing market has slowed recently, with falls in both demand and supply. In part, this reflects the introduction of a stamp duty surcharge on second homes at the beginning of April.
“In the final months of 2016 and in to the New Year we can expect this slowdown to intensify, with economic uncertainty adding to the current pressures faced across the market. As a result, some local property markets could be impacted significantly as weaker demand coincides with more properties coming onto the market.”
Average length of time to sell a house
| City | Average number of days on market | Average house price |
| Bristol | 51 | £252,107 |
| Edinburgh | 53 | £240,978 |
| Glasgow | 56 | £117,795 |
| Southend | 65 | £249,141 |
| Portsmouth | 67 | £190,579 |
| Derby | 69 | £144,543 |
| Sheffield | 71 | £148,551 |
| Brighton | 72 | £342,959 |
| Norwich | 72 | £190,883 |
| Nottingham | 74 | £122,772 |
| Manchester | 77 | £149,722 |
| Leicester | 79 | £147,914 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 79 | £102,877 |
| Leeds | 80 | £166,303 |
| Birmingham | 80 | £159,732 |
| Plymouth | 80 | £165,442 |
| Cardiff | 87 | £189,419 |
| London | 89 | £472,204 |
| Newcastle | 96 | £154,477 |
| Belfast | 96 | £118,894 |
| Hull | 98 | £102,079 |
| Swansea | 100 | £133,458 |
| Liverpool | 108 | £119,933 |
