The capital is home to thousands of homes that have been on the market for upwards of 14 months, analysis from property purchaser HBB Solutions has found.
Some 9,263 homes in London have been on the market for that time, accounting for 29% of the total.
Homes that are on the market for so long typically have an average price -17% below England’s average.
There are a number of reasons that might cause a property to be slow to sell.
If a home is in a dilapidated condition or simply poorly presented, buyers can be quickly turned off.
Location has a big impact, as even in a period where the property market is booming it’s unlikely to impact every area.
Meanwhile it can be the simple case that the seller is asking for too much.
Chris Hodgkinson, managing director of HBB Solutions, said: “There have been moments in modern history where market and wider economic circumstances meant that demand for homes hit a worrisome slump resulting in many properties falling into the slow selling category. But today is not one of those times. In fact, it’s the complete opposite.
“Demand is through the roof with buyers competing with each other for, it sometimes seems, whatever they can find on the market, often resulting in offers stretching well above the original asking price.
“In such a hot market, it’s more likely than not that there is a good reason for a home being slow to sell. Its condition might be poor, its location undesirable, or even its price too high. And sellers can try and remedy all of these issues before trying again on the open market. However, improving the state of a home takes time and money, there is nothing that can be done to change the location, and even the simple act of reducing the price can be tricky because buyers may start to eye the property with suspicion - what must be wrong with it for them to resort to accepting less money?
“That’s why, sometimes, if you’ve been stuck on the market for months on end with no signs of hope, your best option is to consider alternative routes to selling. Through homebuying specialists like HBB Solutions, you can be sure to get a fair price for your home and feel confident that the transaction will be completed very quickly indeed.”
The South East is home to 24% of England’s slow-selling homes, with a total of 2,207 while in the East of England, 1,061 slow-sellers account for 11% of the national total.
In the North West, 862 slow-sellers account for 9% of the total, and the local city of Liverpool is home to 164.
In the South West, 686 slow-selling homes make up 7% of England’s total, with 58 of them located in the local city of Bristol.
Meanwhile, the West Midlands is home to 548 slow-sellers - 6% of the national total - 52 of which are located in Nottingham.
Slow-selling homes suffer the most significant price reductions in the East Midlands (-7.1%), West Midlands (-7.0%), Yorkshire & Humber (-4.3%), East of England (-4.2%), and London (-3.9%).
On a city level, the biggest reductions are found in Liverpool (-17.3%), Sheffield (-17.2%), Bradford (-16.9%), Leeds (-16.2%), and Newcastle (-14.7%)
