Property Industry Eye- February 2025

The homebuying process continues to prove lengthy, with the process of purchasing a property from instruction through to completion taking almost a third (28%)longer in 2022 than it did in 2019 prior to the pandemic, new figures have revealed.

The research found that enquiries appear to be the driving force behind this trend. It is also taking longer for enquiries to be raised in the first place, hitting an average of 35 days in 2022 compared with 18 days in 2007.

One way some estate agents are addressing this problem is to educate sellers in the advantages of instructing a conveyancer when listing their property. The aim is to collate as much information as possible- including title searches, property searches and EPC ratings-so potential purchasers have the the answers to common enquiries upfront

Although this may require the vendor to invest money upfront, their property sale is likely to complete faster.