Fewer than half of homes listed for sale in England have found a buyer with the capital, Cornwall and the Isle of Wight among the hardest places to sell, according to new research.
Analysis by Springbok Properties, a national homebuying company, shows that just 43.6% of homes currently on the market have been sold subject to contract.
The data, based on listings on Rightmove, underlines the extent of the slowdown in activity as the housing market grapples with weak demand and economic uncertainty.
The coldest sales market was found in the City of London, where barely one in five properties (21.2% had secured a buyer.
WEAK SPOTS
On the Isle of Wight the figure was 27.6%, while in Cornwall only 30.3% of homes listed were under offer. Other weak spots included Lincolnshire (34.5%), Herefordshire (35.2%), Greater London (35.7%) and Devon (36.9%).
Even in the country’s strongest market, Bristol, demand stood at 58.1%, leaving more than four in ten homes unsold.
CHALLENGING MARKET
Shepherd Ncube, chief executive of Springbok Properties, says: “The current market remains challenging for sellers, with buyer demand levels nowhere near as strong as we would expect for what is traditionally a busy time of year.
“In many parts of England, fewer than one in three properties have secured a buyer. This is a clear sign of cooling buyer sentiment and growing uncertainty across the housing sector, driven no doubt by the nation’s wider economic troubles and apprehensions ahead of the Autumn Budget.”
