152 days to find a buyer for your Peterborough Property, says Daniel Wilson

I had a homeowner from Hampton email me the other day, she said she had been following my blog (the Peterborough Property Market Blog) for a while and wanted to pick my brain on when is the best time of the year to sell a property.
Daniel Wilson, MD of Wilson & Co Homes Ltd, PeterboroughDaniel Wilson, MD of Wilson & Co Homes Ltd, Peterborough
Daniel Wilson, MD of Wilson & Co Homes Ltd, Peterborough

Trying to calculate the best time to put your Peterborough property on the market can often seem something akin to witchcraft and, whilst I would agree that there are particular times of the year that can prove more productive than others, there are plenty of factors that need to be taken into consideration.

Even if you are putting your property on the market, you don’t know how long it will take to find a buyer - no crystal ball to help with that one. At the moment, the latest set of figures for all 45 estate agents in Peterborough, show the average length of time it takes to find a buyer for any Peterborough property is as follows...

Detached 150 days

Semi 144 days

Terraced 146 days

Flat 174 days

Overall average 152 days

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If we roll the clock back to January 2016, the overall average time it took to find a buyer (again using data from all of the 45 Peterborough Estate Agents) was 181 days.

So, on the face of it, things have vastly improved over the last six months or so. Well, when I looked at the data going back to 2009, and every Spring since then, the average length of time it takes to sell a property drops between January and the Summer months, for it to rise on the run up to Christmas. For example...

Winter 2009 - 238 days Summer 2009 - 212 days

and in more recent times ...

Winter 2013 - 219 days Summer 2013 - 209 days

Winter 2014 - 192 days Summer 2014 - 179 days

Winter 2015 - 180 days Summer 2015 - 176 days

Coming back to the present, even if you placed your property on the market today in Peterborough, if it takes you on average a little under twenty-two weeks to find a buyer, then you can expect solicitors and the chain to take an additional eight and twelve weeks after that, before you move. It comes down to personal choice as to when you place your property on the market.

There are times of the year when it’s better to sell, and times when waiting a little longer can pay off in the long run. In a nutshell, I would say this is the way of the season...

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Spring: Customarily there are more house-buyers as the Daffodils show themselves

Summer: Sellers may miss out on house-buyers being on holiday

Autumn: The enthusiasm for buying homes returns

Winter: Interest diminishes as festive period looms

What this means to buyers and landlord investors is that they often pick up a bargain in later months of the year, as there is less competition from owner occupiers. So, whilst there are better months to achieve a quicker sale, the only piece of advice I can give to every home owner and landlord in Peterborough, is do the right thing for yourself, do your homework and buy (and sell) with both your head as well as your heart.

Daniel Wilson is MD of Wilson & Co Homes Ltd, Peterborough

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