Housing market slumps as owners wait up to 10 months for a sale

Inflated house prices and economic uncertainty has caused the housing market to stall, as homeowners looking to sell are now waiting up to 10 months to attract interest their properties.

Estate agents are predicting the number of completed transactions will fall further in the coming months.

Experts believe the decline in transactions could be as great at 11 per cent, reaching the lowest levels since the 2008 financial crisis.

The slump is resulting in house owners to significantly reduce house prices, according to The Times.

It is thought that speculation surrounding Brexit, years of increasing property prices, stringent mortgage rules and stamp duty rises are behind the stagnation.

A detached home in London now stays on the market for an average of 196 days before it sells - a total of 37 days more than in February of last year, according to the website home.co.uk.

Those in Sunderland have the longest wait in the country and properties listed for sale are on the market for an average of 292.2 days.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said it was important to strike a good balance between setting the price too low and selling a property.

“Sellers are always keen to hear good news, and with agents struggling for fresh stock, the temptation can be to go for a higher price to impress potential sellers,” Mr Shipside told The Times.

“But if the price is too high then it will take longer to sell and [the property] will stand out as stale and would-be buyers will start to wonder what is wrong with it.”