Welsh county is second fastest place to sell home
THE average time to sell a house in the UK in 2019 was 256 days, new research has revealed. Data from all of the major property portals was cross-referenced with sales data from the Land Registry for England and Wales by by GetAgent. co.uk which has produced a comprehensive record of what was selling, where, for how much, and how long it was taking.
And Torfaen came out as the second fastest place in the UK, with an average of time of 193 days -72 days faster than the national average.
The county is the only Welsh entry in the top 20 fastest areas, which saw Nuneaton and Bedworth in Warwickshire nudging Torfaen off the top spot by just two days, with an average of 191 days.
Conversely, in the national rankings for the slowest areas to sell a home, Ceredigion comes in at number three with 388 days.
Gwynedd is ranked eighth with 329 days and Pembrokeshire records 324 days, making it the ninth slowest area.
The estate agent comparison website also found that the slowest place in the UK was Eden in Cumbria with properties taking, on average, a sluggish 393 days to find and secure a new owner.
David Russell, Land Agent at Powells Chartered Surveyors explains the reasons why Torfaen – which counts Pontypool and Cwmbran among its towns – might have made number two on the list.
He says: “We are currently seeing an increase in the demand and values for all types of rural properties within the Torfaen region. This can be put down to a number of factors, such as the removal of the Severn Bridge tolls, recent Government stability in Westminster and increased property values in Cardiff, Newport and Bristol.
“The broad spectrum of property types available in the region, such as redevelopment potential, country cottages, smallholdings, farms and development plots, in such an accessible and well-connected region, north of the M4 corridor, provides great appeal to applicants relocating to south Wales.”
Matt Tyler, partner at NP Linnells
Property Consultants agrees there are many factors to explain the popularity of the area. Matt says: “The county is ideally placed for local commuters byprovidingroutes to avoid the daily heavy traffic at the Brynglas Tunnels on the M4 at Newport.
“Plus Torfaen is significantly cheaper than neighbouring Monmouthshire yet arguably far more accessible.
“The value of property instructionsin the area remains high and we expect that to continue.”
According to property portal Zoopla, the county’s average house price paid in 2019 was £165,911 and this has risen to the current value of £173,131.
Of all the main towns within the county borough, Zoopla estimates that Cwmbran is the most expensive, with the average house price currently estimated at £181,180.