"Nobody wants to be thinking about Christmas in the height of summer, however for home sellers who want to have moved in time for the big day, it’s a necessary reality"
- Alistair Singer - My Home Move Conveyancing
New research from My Home Move Conveyancing reveals that, while it's now customary for Christmas festivities to immediately start following Halloween, home sellers need to be thinking about the big day now, as they have little more than a month to get their current property on the market if they want to have completed in time for Christmas Day.
My Home Move Conveyancing analysed the current time it’s taking to sell a home across Britain in the current market, how this differs regionally and by what point sellers need to have entered the market in order to have completed on their purchase two weeks before Christmas comes.
The research shows that the current average time it takes to sell a home in Britain is 146 days.
18th July is the deadline for a Christmas home move
This accounts for an average of 69 days between listing a property and accepting a buyer’s offer, followed by an average of 77 days to get to completion.
So what does this mean for sellers who have an ambition to be in a new home by Christmas?
Let’s assume that to enjoy a relaxing Christmas in a new home, you need to move in two weeks before the big day in order to give yourself time to unpack and settle in before the festivities begin. This gives us a desired moving date of 11th December.
This means that sellers need to put their home on the market by 18th July in order to, 146 days later, move in on 11th December.
This means that sellers have just a little over a month to instruct an agent and get their property listing live.
Accounting for regional differences
Having said that, if you live in certain regions of Britain, the deadline for listing is even sooner still.
The region in which selling takes the longest time is Wales. Here, the average sale takes 167 due to it having the longest average listing time (80 days) and the longest time to completion (87 days).
This means Welsh sellers need to be on the market by 27th June in order to make their move before Christmas.
London sellers need to be on the market by 1st July; in the East Midlands the deadline is 3rd July; while in the East and South East, the deadline is 7th July.
There do, however, remain some parts of Britain in which sellers have a little more time to play with.
In Scotland, the average selling timeline is just 94 days. This means that to be moving home by 11th December, they don’t need to list their current property until 8th September.
The North East has a selling time of 132 days which means sellers must be on the market by 1st August 2024.
Director of My Home Move Conveyancing, Alistair Singer, commented: “Nobody wants to be thinking about Christmas in the height of summer, however for home sellers who want to have moved in time for the big day, it’s a necessary reality.
"Selling a home takes longer than it should and this is due to a number of factors - how long searches take, completing a survey, getting your mortgage offer in, for example - all of these impact the time it takes to move from accepting an offer to completion.
"Of course, not all transactions are the same - a cash buyer will likely move quicker, while a longer chain or a leasehold transaction will extend timelines.
"Unfortunately, there’s nothing much a seller can do other than maintain a positive attitude, as delays can vary for a number of reasons, from unexpected complications to delays on the side of lenders, local authorities, valuers or solicitors.
"The best plan of attack is to understand what’s unique about your home, which conveyancer suits your sale best and just what’s needed from you as a seller at each step of the process. Doing so will ensure you’re legally prepared and your transaction timeline is as short as it can be allowing you to make your move with confidence.”
