Northampton is home to Britain's fastest moving property market

  • South East and East of England are the fastest moving regions in Britain – properties for sale go under offer in an average of 42 days

  • Properties in Sutton are snapped up faster than any other London borough, under offer after 28 days on average

  • It takes 47 days for the average British property to go under offer from when first listed

Northampton has the fastest moving property market in Britain, with homes listed for sale in the area taking an average of just 27 days to go under offer. According to new research from Zoopla, properties in the East Midlands town, receive offers 20 days faster on average than the rest of Britain (47 days).

Zoopla analysed the top 50 biggest towns by number of listings to identify the average length of time it took properties listed for sale on the website to go under offer.* The Buckinghamshire town of Milton Keynes came in second place, with properties going under offer in an average of 29 days, and is closely followed by the London commuter town of Croydon (30 days). The Scottish cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow check in at fourth and fifth place, averaging 32 and 33 days respectively.

On a regional level, properties in South East England and the East of England are home to the hottest property markets, with the average ‘for sale’ listing going under offer in 42 days. The East Midlands follows with an average of 44 days, marginally speedier than the property markets in neighbouring West Midlands (45 days) and London (46 days). Nationally, England ties with Scotland, both averaging 46 days overall – well ahead of Wales where the average where property is listed on site for 66 days before being offered on.

Within the nation’s capital, Sutton is ranked as the fastest moving London borough, with listings only taking an average of 28 days to go under offer. The London boroughs of Havering and Bexley are joint second quickest (averaging 29 days). Barking and Dagenham, in fourth place, is almost a week slower with ‘for sale’ properties taking an average of 35 days to come off the market.

Lawrence Hall, spokesperson for Zoopla comments: “Whether you're a first time or seasoned property seller, one thing that is impossible to predict is the timing of the first offer on your home. The national average period between listing a home for sale and achieving an offer is well under two months at 47 days, while sellers in Northampton can expect an offer in an average of just 27 days. Regardless of where you are selling, giving your home a bit of TLC and enlisting the help of a good estate agent with knowledge of the local market, is likely to help your sale."

Top 10 fastest moving towns in Britain

Rank

Town

Region

Average days to secure an offer

Average property value

1

Northampton

East Midlands

27

£245,288

2

Milton Keynes

South East England

29

£299,079

3

Croydon

London

30

£374,342

4

Edinburgh

Scotland

32

£266,146

5

Glasgow

Scotland

33

£175,552

6

Bristol

South West England

34

£309,807

7

Southampton

South East England

34

£279,769

8

Coventry

West Midlands

35

£191,658

9

Salford

North West England

36

£152,784

10

Ipswich

East of England

36

£259,844

Source: Zoopla, March 2017 Top 10 fastest moving London boroughs

Rank

Borough

Average days to secure an offer

Average property value (£)

1

Sutton

28

£436,422

2

Havering

29

£376,496

3

Bexley

29

£363,720

4

Barking and Dagenham

35

£283,266

5

Redbridge

36

£446,858

6

Croydon

37

£428,195

7

Enfield

37

£470,106

8

Kingston upon Thames

40

£598,834

9

Waltham Forest

40

£452,932

10

Haringey

40

£657,544

Source: Zoopla, March 2017 British regions ranked by time taken to go under offer

Rank

Region

Average days to secure an offer

Average property value (£)

1

South East England

42

£400,054

2

East of England

42

£345,554

3

East Midlands

44

£205,437

4

West Midlands

45

£213,772

5

Scotland

46

£180,374

6

London

46

£659,627

7

South West England

50

£285,406

8

Yorkshire and The Humber

55

£170,841

9

North West England

55

£184,960

10

North East England

61

£184,275

11

Wales

66

£179,890

Source: Zoopla, March 2017

- Ends -

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