A survey produced by Rightmove found that none of the top five fastest-selling spots for million pound homes this year was in London. Such a property in Cambridge was taking only 45 days on average to secure a buyer – more than twice as fast as the national average.

Million-pound plus housing market booms in the north

Edinburgh and Harpenden were in joint second place taking 53 days each, followed by Bristol at 54 days and St Albans at 60 days. The national average so far this year stood at 99 days, five days more than a year ago.Rightmove also found that sales of million pound homes had sped up this year in Scotland, East Midlands, North East and the North West England.Miles Shipside, Rightmove housing market analyst, said, “Hotspots like Cambridge have helped the east of England take over the mantle from London in recent years.
“The Scottish million-pound plus market has also picked up as the increased activity in the overall housing market in Scotland is having a positive knock-on effect on the higher end, especially in cities like Edinburgh.”

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For more related news and features, visit our Residential Property section. 

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Simon Rettie, from Scottish estate agents Rettie and Co, was quoted in the report as saying, “As confidence and demand has picked up in the overall Scottish market recently, this has led to million-pound homes selling much more quickly again. The buyers are often families or professionals, or those that are looking for a second home.”Martin Walshe, head of new homes at Cheffins in Cambridge, added, “We’ve seen demand grow to unprecedented levels in Cambridge for a variety of reasons which has pushed up values and sped up sales across all price brackets, especially with the city’s historically low housing supply.”

Housing market struggles to gain traction

Meanwhile, the monthly house price from Halifax reported a month-on-month rise of 1.5 per cent in May after a 3.1 per cent slump the previous month. By the bank’s method of calculation, the average UK house price stood at £224,439.Russell Galley, managing director at the Halifax, said, “The month-on-month figures are more volatile than the quarterly or annual measures. In the three months to May, house prices were 0.2 per cent higher than the previous quarter and on an annual basis they are 1.9 per cent higher.“Both of these measures have fallen since reaching a peak in the final months of last year. These latest price changes reflect a relatively subdued UK housing market.”Howard Archer, chief economic adviser at EY ITEM Club, commented, “The housing market is struggling to gain traction amid challenging conditions and we suspect that any meaningful upturn will remain elusive over the coming months.“We expect house price gains over 2018 will be limited to a modest two per cent. At this stage, we expect prices to rise no more than three per cent in 2019.”Relocate’s new Global Mobility Toolkit provides free information, practical advice and support for HR, global mobility managers and global teams operating overseas.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online Directory 

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