Completion time on home sales falls despite signs of slowdown
The slowdown in the housing market may not be as marked as has been suggested, new figures indicate. According to the LMS Quarterly Market Efficiency Monitor the average time taken to sell a home in the UK during the first three months of this year fell to 55 days compared with 56 days for the corresponding period last year. The fall was most marked in the North of the country, where the completion time on the average property sale dropped from 51 days in the first quarter last year to 47 days. However, Dominic Toller, director of marketing and new business at LMS, was sceptical that the figures represent a sign that the sector is in better health that house price studies have suggested. He said: "Despite the housing turmoil that we've seen over the past three months, the average number of days it takes to sell a residential property has decreased slightly."However, the length of time it takes for a property to sell is still too high. One of the key reasons being that in a slowing market you tend to find property chains have difficulty in settling, clearly making a big difference to the number of days taken to sell a property."
Share this..
Related stories
Business confidence in the economy tested
A report by the Institute of Chartered Surveyors England and Wales has today cast a dark shadow across the UK business arena with the revelation that many businesses have a reduced confidence in the UK economy going forward. This will come as no surprise to those who have been monitoring the UK economy, but it is most certainly a downward step with regards to hopes of an economic recovery in the m...
Read MoreHave you planned ahead for your retirement?
The issue of pensions and retirement is set to become more and more important to every citizen in the UK in the months and years ahead. Last week's announcement by the FSA regarding the allegedly poor level of pensions advice available in some areas of the market is a concern which needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. Very often it is easy to look at the short-term picture when indeed y...
Read MoreAndrew Sentence still pushing for rate rise
Andrew Sentence, one of the members of the Bank of England's MPC, is still pushing for a rise in UK base rates amid signs that inflation now has "a mind of its own". This is a situation which has been formulating for some time but it is one which Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, has effectively ignored as a secondary issue behind the UK economic recovery. However Andrew Sentenc...
Read MoreUnions promise disruption over budget cuts
The UK population is set to be split between the attractions of UK public-sector budget cuts in the short to medium term against the necessity to reduce the UK debt in the longer term. As a consequence, the unions in the UK are fully expecting a large number of the UK public to support the proposed strike action which will drop into place in the weeks and months ahead. So what will this mean for t...
Read MoreThe UK recession increases demand on local services
The ongoing recession in the UK has seen a large spike in applications for state schools, housing benefits, help for the elderly and other public services. This is set to place enormous pressure on local government budgets which have already been cut back by central government over the last few months. When you also throw in the recent losses on Icelandic bank deposits as well as suggestions that...
Read More