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Mortgage volatility in Britain slows home sales as buyers wait for deals
Zoopla data show 180 of 363 local authorities saw longer average sale times than a year ago, even as the national average stayed at 42 days.
Guardian Business reports that, in Great Britain, half of homes are taking longer to sell than they did last year as mortgage-market volatility has made buyers more cautious.
According to Zoopla, homes in 180 out of 363 local authorities in England, Scotland, and Wales were taking longer to sell compared with a year ago. The platform said the national average time to sell has not changed, at 42 days, but a wider regional gap has emerged, with buyers in some property hotspots racing to complete deals while uncertainty around mortgage costs slows activity elsewhere.
The report found the UK’s 10 fastest-selling markets were all in Scotland, with the lowest average time to sell at 11 days in Falkirk. It also said eight local authorities had an average time to sell of two months or more, led by Melton in the East Midlands at 76 days, Westminster in London, and Teignbridge in the south-west.
Guardian Business links the slowdown to volatility in mortgage pricing tied to the Iran war, which prompted some lenders to pull deals in March. It cited Moneyfacts showing the rate on an average two-year fixed residential mortgage at 5.6% on Monday, up from 4.8% before the conflict began at the end of February, and noted the rate peaked near 6% in April, with further uncertainty as policy decisions near.