The homes selling within a week is up 125% compared to the same period last year and 28% higher from its previous peak in February 2016, before the Brexit vote. 

Rightmove analysed over 200,000 homes which sold between 8 July and 31 August to examine the impact of the stamp duty holiday announcement. It found one in seven properties were sold within a week, compared to a tenth of properties last year. 

Some 30% of homes sold within two weeks of being listed, up from 21% in 2019.  

Property types and regions 

As buyers seek more space, two- and three-bedroom semi-detached homes are selling the fastest with a fifth being sold within a week. For both property types, this is up from 13% last year. 

Four-bedroom detached houses saw the biggest change in the time they took to sell, doubling from seven per cent being sold in a week last year to 14% this year.  

Larger properties are still out of reach for many, as five-bed detached houses are taking the longest to sell with just 10% selling within a week, compared to 6% last year.  

With buyer sentiment shifting to more room and a desire for gardens, flats are selling slowly in comparison, as 11% of one- and two-bed flats are going within seven days, only slightly up from 8% last year. 

Properties are selling the quickest in Scotland, where a third of three-bedroom semi-detached houses are being snapped up seven days after being listed. This is an increase from 20% last year. 

London is the slowest market, with one in nine homes being sold within the first week. However, this is still an increase from the one in 20 last year which were sold in a week. 

Miles Shipside, director and property market analyst at Rightmove, said: “Not only are more properties selling in the current market than at any time over the past ten years, but many sellers are finding that demand for homes following lockdown and the rush to beat the stamp duty deadline means they’re achieving a quicker sale, but only if they’ve been priced correctly.  

“However, sellers do need to move more quickly than before because although we’re in unchartered territory with record activity it’s still likely that demand will start to soften as it always does towards the end of the year.”  

“The conveyancing logjam created by the pause and subsequent market surge means that people thinking of coming to market really need to do so in September or early October if they want to have a chance of completing with enough time to beat the stamp duty deadline. 

“Six months may seem like a while away now, but getting your property ready to sell, finding an agent, marketing the home, finding a buyer and then going through the conveyancing process doesn’t leave much time for any unexpected delays along the way, especially if you’re in a chain,” he added.