Prospective home-sellers will need to list their property by Tuesday 17 October in order to sell before Christmas.

Analysis by estate agent comparison site EstateAgent4Me (a tool from HomeOwners Alliance), found that properties listed in autumn are far slower to shift. As such, average sale times have fluctuated between 51 and 70 days over the past two years.

However, despite the Brexit uncertainty and surprise result of the General Election, the average length of time to sell a property has remained relatively constant.

The one factor which did provoke an increase in speed was the introduction of the Stamp Duty surcharge in Spring 2016, which prompted a flurry of fast deals in the months beforehand.

Overall, homes listed in October have taken an average of 65 days to sell over the past two years, meaning those who want a sale agreed this side of Christmas should look to list their properties by Tuesday.

The New Year remains the best time to list your property for a speedy sale, with homes listed in January selling the fastest and the speed of sale slowly increasing in the months thereafter.

Paula Higgins, chief executive of HomeOwners Alliance, said: “Lots of homesellers set themselves a deadline of the end of the year to sort a sale. So if they want to settle in the festive season feeling relaxed, they need to put their properties on the market next week.

“Selling a home involves weighing up a lot of different factors and considerations. Sellers today can access a wealth of different information about their prospective agents, including how quickly they tend to sell a property.”