For homeowners the time it takes to sell your property of 12 weeks is at a three year high increasing from 8 weeks in 2016.

The Cities House Price Index from Zoopla shows the time it takes for home movers to sell their property when listed on the market has increased from 8 weeks three years ago to 12 weeks today.

Seven english cities have average time to sell a property of 8-9 weeks with the strongest market in Scotland selling in only 5-6 weeks for Glasgow and Edinburgh.

For Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth and Bristol the time to sell a property has increased to 10-13 weeks while in London, Oxford and Aberdeen the average time is the worst at 14 weeks.

Buyer demand helping house prices

Demand from first time buyers and home movers looking to purchase their main home is holding up with strong mortgage data.

Average house price inflation for the top twenty cities is 2.4% year-on-year which is half the growth rate over the last 5 years but below average earnings growth of 3.8%.

The following table from Zoopla shows average house prices and annual change for homeowners to September 2019.

City	Average house price	Annual change
Leicester	£183,900	4.5%
Manchester	£173,600	4.4%
Liverpool	£124,300	4.3%
Belfast	£136,500	3.7%
Edinburgh	£236,500	3.7%
Cardiff	£211,400	3.6%
Birmingham	£168,600	3.6%
Nottingham	£155,900	3.3%
Glasgow	£126,900	3.1%
Leeds	£168,400	2.8%
Bristol	£284,700	2.8%
Sheffield	£139,700	2.7%
Bournemouth	£295,700	2.6%
Newcastle	£129,700	2.3%
Cambridge	£430,200	0.8%
Southampton	£229,400	0.8%
Portsmouth	£239,800	0.5%
London	£484,500	0.1%
Oxford	£409,400	-0.9%
Aberdeen	£157,000	-5.5%

There is stronger growth in house prices for Leicester up 4.5% for the year with Manchester higher by 4.4% in contrast to London which is flat and Aberdeen falling -5.5%.

House prices in top cities will benefit of existing homeowners such as remortgage buyers can release capital for home improvements such as new kitchen, bathroom or an extension.

Brexit is one factor that is extending the time taken to sell a property although the strength of city housing markets is based on the fundamentals of mortgage affordability and the cost of moving.

Discounts to asking price are rising

The discount to asking price is the difference the sellers need to accept in order to achieve a sale and this has risen from 2.2% in 2016 to 3.8% in September 2019.

There are wide variations around these averages at a city level with deteriorating market conditions for inner London where the average discount to asking price is 7.6% and 4.7% in outer London.

For buy-to-let landlords lower house growth in the capital and larger discounts means they need a smaller deposit or mortgage and rental yields after interest payments would increase.

In contrast, the strongest markets are seven English cities of Cardiff, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Leicester, Manchester and Sheffield with discounts to asking prices of 2 to 3%.

In Glasgow and Edinburgh homes typically marketed as ‘offers over’ so a negative discounts to asking price means homes are selling for 6-7% above the asking price.

Older equity release mortgage buyers can stay in their home rather than downsize avoiding the discounts to asking price and access wealth in their property to repay an interest only mortgage or purchase a new car.

What are your next steps?

Call our LCM mortgage brokers if you are a buy-to-let landlord with a property, remortgaging and want the best mortgage deal, buying your first home or you are planning to move home.

For equity release buyers our London City Mortgage advisers can recommend lifetime mortgages allowing you to receive cash from your home to spend on holidays or reduce inheritance tax owed by your beneficiaries.

Start with a free mortgage quote or call us and we can take your details. Learn more by using the mortgage cost calculators, property value tracker chart and equity release calculator.