Like the rest of the nation, the UK property market will wind down significantly between Christmas and the New Year as many take time off to spend with family and to fully enjoy the festivities.
However, research by home buying platform, Yes Homebuyers, has revealed that this doesn’t necessarily mean you have no chance at all of seeing your sale or purchase complete over the festive break.
Yes Homebuyers analysed market data on residential property sales between the 25th and 31st December.
The figures show that during this seven-day period, 195 property sales completed across England and Wales last year.
To put this into perspective, throughout the whole of 2019 an average of 16,018 transactions completed on a weekly basis.
So those that did complete between Christmas and New Year represent just 1% of total sales that would usually complete during an average week.
In terms of the Christmas property selling hotspots, London tops the table. Last year as many as 40 sales completed between Christmas and New Year, with Hampshire (10) and the West Midlands (10) also seeing double-digit home sales during the festive season.
West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, West Sussex, Oxfordshire, Tyne and Wear, Cambridgeshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Suffolk and Norfolk also saw some of the highest levels of market activity with between four and seven homes completing.
Matthew Cooper, Founder & Managing Director of Yes Homebuyers said, “The home selling process is a lengthy one and even in regular market conditions, it can be hard to get hold of your agent or conveyancer in order to try and push your sale over the line. So it comes as no surprise that during the festive period the number of homes completing falls drastically although given the time of year, those involved can be forgiven for taking some time off.
However, that’s not to say that you can’t complete during the festive break if you are approaching the finish line where your sale is concerned. While many take the time between Christmas and New Year off, many don’t, and so it’s well worth continuing to chase in hope of completing before the year is out.
Of course, those that are desperate to sell before 2021 is rung in may struggle to do so now but there are additional means that could see them complete in early January. At Yes Homebuyer we are able to complete on a purchase within a specified timeframe and so even if a buyer decided to sell between Boxing Day and New Year this year, we could have the sale completed within the first half of 2021 for them.”
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