Almost two thirds of house sales now take more than six months

See more This is Money on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ED MAGNUS, SENIOR THIS IS MONEY REPORTER Updated: 07:00 BST, 16 July 2026

Home sellers now face an average wait of seven months to exchange, new data shows. Analytics firm TwentyCi says that 61 per cent of all property sales are now taking longer than six months to go from being put on the market to exchanging contracts. Last year, that figure was 54.4 per cent and in 2019 it was just 36 per cent. Across all sales in Britain, the typical wait from listing to exchange is seven months.This is an increase from the average five and a half month wait in 2019. In English law nothing is binding about a property transaction until the exchange of signed contracts, with keys only handed over when the sale completes. The property market is sluggish across much of the country with the number of homes listed for sale outnumbering buyers looking.This puts buyers in a strong position, meaning they have their pick of homes and are more likely to pull out of transactions or reduce their offer at short notice. Flat owners are finding it particularly hard with fewer first-time buyers interested and demand from buy-to-let investors also drying up.