"Despite the wider economic woes of the nation, the housing market has stood fairly firm and while house prices have cooled, we’re yet to see a crash"
- Jason Harris-Cohen - Open Property Group
Newly data from Open Property Group has revealed that relocation, short leases and divorce are driving buyer behaviour when it comes to the decision to sell their homes at speed, with a huge increase in sellers opting to use the quick sale platform.
Open Property Group analysed internal data on the reasons provided by sellers for utilising its quick sale platform and how the need for a quick sale has changed over the last year.
The research shows that there has been an 81% annual increase in the number of sellers opting for the quick sale route when comparing Q1 2024 to Q1 2023.
When it comes to the predominant reason sellers are opting for a quick sale, the ability to release equity from their home ranks top, accounting for 38% of all quick sale home sellers in Q1 of this year.
However, this proportion has fallen year on year, while a higher proportion of quick sale home sellers are now Landlords looking to exit the buy-to-let sector at pace, accounting for 17% of all quick sales in Q1 2024, along with those looking to relocate (17%).
The figures from Open Property Group show that the ability to relocate at speed is not only one of the most prominent reasons for a quick sale but in the last year, there has been a 433% increase in the number of sellers moving for that very reason.
The number of those looking to sell with a short lease on their home has also increased notably, while divorce has equally been a key factor, with the number of sellers citing both reasons for a quick sale seeing a 300% increase year on year.
In addition, sellers stating the need to pay debts (+200%), or to shift buy-to-let portfolio properties (+167%) also saw a sharp increase in Q1 2024 versus Q1 2023.
CEO of Open Property Group, Jason Harris-Cohen, commented: “Despite the wider economic woes of the nation, the housing market has stood fairly firm and while house prices have cooled, we’re yet to see a crash.
"As a result, the majority of sellers opting for the quick sale route are doing so to cash in and release equity, however, with the market remaining somewhat subdued, the ability to relocate at pace without waiting for a buyer also ranks high.
"Not only is relocation one of the most prominent reasons for a quick sale at present, but there’s been a sharp increase in the number of buyers doing so versus this time last year, which demonstrates the difficulty many are having in finding a buyer in a proceedable position given that we’re yet to see interest rates come down.”
