Homes in Glasgow are selling in as little as 11 days, making the Scottish city the fastest-selling market in Britain, according to new data from property management software provider Alto.
The company, which says it is connected to more than 6,000 estate agents across the UK, found the average British property spends 30 days on the market before a sale is agreed.
Glasgow topped the list, followed by Worcester and Belfast, with several of the fastest-selling cities recording offers in under two weeks. London matched the national average exactly, ranking 21st among the cities analysed.
At the other end of the scale, Wakefield was the slowest-selling city in the data set, with homes spending 63 days on the market – six times as long as in Glasgow and roughly double the national average.
Alto’s figures also point to a shift within property types. Terraced and semi-detached homes were the fastest to sell, agreeing an offer after 26 days on average, while detached homes took 41 days.
Retirement and sheltered accommodation (98 days) and park and mobile homes (96 days) were the slowest categories.
Flats and apartments recorded the sharpest year-on-year slowdown. The average time to agree an offer on a flat rose 34 per cent over the past 12 months, from 29 days to 39 days.
One-bedroom and studio properties took 31 per cent longer to sell, up from 32 days to 42 days.
Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson, CEO of Alto, said the size of the company’s dataset, which he described as one of the UK’s biggest, made Glasgow’s result stand out.
“We sit on one of the UK’s biggest property datasets, and one number stood out: homes in Glasgow are typically agreed in just 11 days – the fastest anywhere in the country,” Riccardo said.
He said pricing discipline, rather than market conditions alone, explained the gap between the fastest and slowest-selling areas.
“Where a home is priced for what local buyers will actually pay, it moves; and where it’s priced for what the seller hoped for 18 months ago, it sits with flats being the clearest example of what happens when that slips,” Riccardo said.
“Wherever you’re selling, the first fortnight on the market is the part that counts, so get the asking price right on day one rather than discounting your way there over three months.”
Mark Adams, managing partner of G&S Properties in Glasgow, pointed to supply rather than pricing as the main driver of local demand.
“In my opinion, the Glasgow market is strong due to a chronic undersupply of property at accessible price points and a surge in demand for both urban and rural living,” Mark said.
He said sellers should engage an independent agent who can advise on an accurate asking price and present the property well, “including drone photography and video, to boost kerb appeal, increase viewings and negotiate a premium sale.”
Alto has also published a free postcode-based tool, the Speed of Sale Index, showing how quickly properties are selling in specific areas.
Top 10 fastest-selling cities in the UK
- Glasgow
- Worcester
- Belfast
- Newcastle
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Cardiff
- Portsmouth
- Bradford
- Sheffield
- Manchester
Top 10 slowest-selling cities in the UK
- Wakefield
- Swansea
- Peterborough
- Nottingham
- York
- Lincoln
- Chester
- Cambridge
- Wolverhampton
- Leicester