According to Part Exchange Register, agents are under increased pressure in areas were the sales process is much slower and are at a higher risk of losing their vendors to another agent.
The research points out that there are enormous regional variations in the country’s housing market. It can take up to three months longer to sell a home in some parts of the UK than others, with certain areas taking ‘more than a year’ to find a buyer.
In fact, Wales and the North West dominate Rightmove’s list of the most difficult places to sell a home. Of the bottom 10, three are in Wales, namely Powys, Gwynedd and Conwy, and four are in the North West, Sefton, Fylde, Rochdale and Allerdale, as well as Workington in Cumbria.
Properties sell the quickest in the university town of Cambridge than they do anywhere else in the country, typically taking just 27 days to find a buyer, compared to a national average of 65 days.
‘The recent housing boom has not reached many parts of the UK and the good times experienced by agents in the South East is certainly not reflected in Wales and the North West,’ said Joanne McClarence, operations director of Part Exchange Register.
‘In some parts if the UK, it can be very challenging for agents to find buyers and at the same time, assure vendors that everything possible is being done to sell their property. Agents often face aggressive marketing from their competitors, who target their vendors who have not sold in a given period,’ she explained.
The firm has developed a new ‘matching’ service, which enables agents to generate additional property sales, by bringing vendors and buyers together, in a more targeted and effective way.
‘Part Exchange Register creates property matches between an agent’s vendors and those of other Agents, as well as matching vendors to new homes from a national network of property developers. The fact is that many vendors are really keen to move, but can’t do so until they find a buyer for their property. The problem is that many home movers wait around until their property is sold before they start to view other houses,’ McClarence pointed out.
The aim is to give agents the opportunity to offer a unique, added value service to vendors and provides another sales channel and is described at ideal for agents who are looking to secure new sales opportunities.