Last week I viewed a property with a client who is thinking of expanding her property portfolio as part of her pension pot. During the viewing we discussed the many factors that could affect the overall return on her investment. Towards the end of our meeting my client asked how easy would it be to sell the property. You may be wondering why someone would be considering the saleability of a property they had not even purchased yet! Well one day you may need to sell the property. If you go into the purchase with open eyes, you will know most of the risks and can negotiate the price accordingly if you have to. For my client her concern was if we have another property slump (and we will because that is what has happened to the British property market ever since the 1950’s), if they did need to sell, what type of property would be easier to sell. Now everything sells, even during a slump, but I did some research and followed up the query – the results make interesting reading.

Time to Sell

Looking at the time from a property coming to the market to reaching a sold status gives us an insight to the saleability of property.

The average time to sell a property in Glastonbury is 109 days while property in Wells takes an average 133 days to sell.

A closer look at the data reveals more about the price band, number of bedrooms and property type that sell the quickest.

Selling times by price band – in the band £100k-£200k property sells on average in just 82 days while properties under £100k took 166 days to sell. Interestingly properties in the £500k-1 million bracket take an a average of just 42 days to sell.

Selling times by number of bedrooms – 2 bedroom properties sell on average in just 79 days while at the other end of the scale 1 bedroom properties take 198 days to sell.

Selling times by property type – terraced properties sell on average in just 73 days while at the other end of the scale flats take 146 days to sell.

My analysis suggests if you own a 2 bedroom terraced house in Glastonbury in the price band £100k-£200k you should be able to sell your property pretty quickly at this time!

Meanwhile in nearby Shepton the average selling time is 116 days and just 73 days in Street where 2 bedroom properties sell in just 31 days!

In my experience there is some correlation between saleability and rent ability so my research gives an indication of tenant demand.

Proportion of Properties Sold

Another good guide to judge the saleability of property is the number of properties for sale, compared to the numbers that are sold, subject to contract. Now I carried out this comparison last week, so the numbers will be marginally different today, but of the 4036 households in Glastonbury there are 140 properties on the market for sale. Of those 140 properties, 94 properties are fully available on the open market waiting for a buyer and 46 have buyers and are sold, subject to contract. That means 33% of property on the market in Glastonbury has a buyer. The proportion of properties that have a buyer in Wells is very similar.

However if we delve deeper into the Glastonbury property market we see that 50% of terraced properties are sold while just 19% of flats are sold. Looking at the number of bedrooms, 2 bedroom properties have sold best as 46% of 2 bedroom properties currently on the market have a buyer closely followed by 3 bedroom properties with 43% having a buyer.

About Tom Morgan

Founder of Jungle Property the multi award-winning letting agent based in Glastonbury, Somerset. I am passionate about property and Glastonbury and about providing the very best advice to anyone who wants the best return on a buy-to-let property investment. For an open and brutally honest opinion on anything in the Glastonbury property market please contact me via tom.morgan@jungleproperty.co.uk