Properties set to stay on sale for longer times

The length of time on average that properties for sale stay on the market is set to remain long, due to the fact that there is still not a great number of people who can afford to buy houses in the current UK property market.

Selwyn Lim, director of Mouseprice, said that it is the case, as always, that a poor property market confidence level will show a direct correlation to the amount of time that properties remain for sale.

"Selling times in London are reasonably healthy, but outside of London there is this increase and that goes hand-in-hand with a stagnant market. In so far as the market remains stagnant going forward, then selling times will remain long."

He said that in the short term they will stay lengthy because of the traditional summer slowdown, in which house sales are nowhere near the same level as the rest of the year. He said that it would be impossible to predict whether the Olympics would add to this issue this year.

Another factor which can lead to the slowing of the market at the moment, according to Mr Lim, is the fact that people have one eye on the problems in the eurozone.

"I am sure that there is an impact but I can't imagine that people are making their decisions directly based on it; it is just more of an indirect impact that it would have on individuals in terms of employment opportunities and the health of various companies."

It was recently reported by Hometrack that the number of homes sold in the UK in the second quarter of the year was beginning to slow. According to the firm, June saw a stall in house prices, after three consecutive months of rises had preceded it.

The firm confirmed a dip in interest by saying that the overall demand for houses dropped by 0.5 per cent in June, a reduction which was the first in the last five months.