How Long Should You Leave a House On The Market?
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Content Written By: Jessica Buckley - Last Updated: 24/09/2025
How long is too long to have your property on the open market? What can you do to sell your house fast?
Everyone wants a quick sale and thinks their own property should sell quickly, but that isn’t always the reality, unfortunately.
If a property is left on the market for a certain period of time, typically a few months, then people may start to question why. Is the price point too high? Does it have something wrong with it? Is it a non-standard construction? Why hasn’t it been snapped up yet?
The longer your property is on the market, the less appealing it can become, but all hope is not lost—this guide delves into what kind of research you can carry out yourself and what you can do to try to change your fortunes and sell your house fast.
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Setting your expectations early
Every area has a different housing market and properties in some areas sell much quicker than others.
Data from Zoopla in November 2023 showed the five locations with the fastest-selling properties then were:
| Location | Days to agree offer |
|---|---|
| Liverpool, North West | 17 |
| Manchester, North West | 21 |
| Salford, North West | 23 |
| Basingstoke and Deane, South East | 24 |
| Waltham Forest, London | 24 |
Before putting your home on the market and getting disheartened that it doesn’t sell in the first few days, you should take a look at the selling time trends in your area so you can have a realistic expectation for how long it may take to sell.
There’s a fantastic online tool you can use to get this information at Home.co.uk. It will give you a whole host of useful information, from current asking prices, historical reports on asking prices, selling times and actual selling prices of homes in your postcode area.
Let’s take a look at a few locations across the country to give you a feel for what to expect from the first listing to the last time you touch the keys and hand them over:
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| Location | Price Band | Mean Selling Time |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester (Source) | £100,000 - £200,000 | 100 days |
| £200,000 - £300,000 | 82 days | |
| Liverpool (Source) | £100,000 - £200,000 | 83 days |
| £200,000 - £300,000 | 83 days | |
| Portsmouth (Source) | £100,000 - £200,000 | 120 days |
| £200,000 - £300,000 | 88 days | |
| Coventry (Source) | £100,000 - £200,000 | 100 days |
| £200,000 - £300,000 | 77 days | |
| Cardiff (Source) | £100,000 - £200,000 | 110 days |
| £200,000 - £300,000 | 90 days |
To check your own area, simply enter the name of the location in the search bar on the left and click ‘Find’ to bring up the report. You can delve into selling times by number of bedrooms or property type, too—you might be surprised at what you find.
Took away my stress!
I spoke to Charlotte after receiving the news that the buyers had pulled out on our property and she put me at ease after the stressful 3 months of going through the conveyancing process then for the buyer to pull out! I am happy with the offer made, although below market value, it is well worth taking that hit to avoid the stressful process of finding another buyer! Thank you Charlotte for your advice!
Date of experience: November 22, 2024
Check historic data on property websites
Research into the local area to reveal average house prices can also help you get a feel for your competition.
Basic searches around your house price band on the likes of Rightmove and Zoopla can show you what other similar houses are on for, but you can also use historical house price data to see what properties actually sold for this way.
Take house prices in Manchester as sold via Rightmove, for instance—the overall average across all house types was £271,146, with the majority of properties sold being flats. Semi-detached properties in Manchester sold for £320,028 on average over the past year.
You can combine this data with the average time to sell information to give you a fuller picture of the likelihood of selling your property soon. Zoopla recently had the average time to completion down at anything between 17 and 34 weeks across the UK, although data varies between regions.
For more of your own research, you can also check the UK House Price Index (HPI) from HM Land Registry or the ONS to explore house price data and compare locations to see how your house stacks up. You can see from the current HPI that the average cost of a property in Manchester is actually not much more than the national average:
“As of July 2025, the average house price in the UK is £269,735, and the index stands at 103.4. Property prices have risen by 0.3% compared to the previous month, and risen by 2.8% compared to the previous year.”
- UK House Price Index
What should I do if my house isn’t selling?
So, what if you’ve looked into the area, you know your competition and, yet, you’ve still had your property on the market for far longer than the average time? There are some routes you can take to improve your chances of selling your home, so let’s take a look here:
Try changing your estate agent
You can start by asking whether or not your estate agent is doing enough to sell your property.
Do you have to keep pushing them for reports? Are they offering ideas, such as changing listing details, providing extra information about your house and selling points, or updating the photographs and videos?
You shouldn’t have to push them to make changes and keep you up to date. At the end of the day, you’re the one paying them to sell it, but too many estate agents simply get you to sign up, do the initial work to get the listing live and then…not much more.
If they aren’t putting any more effort into selling your property and are using every estate agent trick in the book, then it may be time to make a change. Make sure you check your contract and ensure there are no fees that you’ll have to pay to get out before you start exploring other options.
You might actually be able to have two estate agents, so long as there are no extra fees to pay upfront, so it’s worth asking the questions to explore your options if you’re getting frustrated.
VERY GOOD FIRM *****
VERY EASY AND PLEASANT TO DEAL WITH WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND MUCH EASIER THAN THE NORMAL ESTATE AGENTS AND NO FUSS
Date of experience: November 15, 2023
Consider going to a property auction
Another alternative you have is to put your house up for auction. Selling at auction can mean that you get a relatively quick sale, but this depends on market interest at the time and, of course, the asking price you set.
You will still have fees to pay to sell this way and the final sale price is less certain, but it can be a good way to fast-track the sale.
“Selling your house at an auction isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you’ve lived in it for a number of years, but it can be a good way to avoid the annoying wait the open market route gives you.
“Sometimes, estate agents can take up to a year or more to sell your property, but buyers at auction or cash buyers like us can get it done in weeks, if not days.”
Karl McArdle, The Property Buying Company
Read more: How to Sell a House at Auction
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Think about reducing your asking price
Your estate agent might be pushing you to do this (they always do), but reducing your asking price should typically be a last resort.
You might be asking too much for your property to some buyers, but you might not be to others. Selling traditionally on the open market requires a bit of luck to find the right buyer and they might come along eventually, but it can take many months, which is not ideal if time is against you.
If you’re moving overseas, for instance, you might have to think about reducing the asking price before long, but there are still options to sell your house from abroad in any case.
If the time comes to reduce your asking price because you’re simply tired of waiting around, remember to do so with the price triggers in mind across sites like Rightmove and Zoopla—people tend to search in increments of £10k, so dropping just below each bracket can help you find new prospective buyers.
We wanted a quick sale
"We wanted a quick sale . After months on the sales market we did not received any viewing from our choosing Estate Agents . We decided to have a look on the websites and came across The Property Buying Company we were unsure but made the phone call, the lady we spoke to was a Gemma Robinson whom was very professional and explained the procedures . After that call was made the ball was rolling we had 3 viewing within a month , we agreed on a price and the property sold quite quickly after that. Gemma kept us informed by telephone calls as we are not up to scratch with the modern day internet."
"Thank You Gemma for all your help and we would definitely would recommend The Property Buying Company."
Date of experience: September 8, 2023
Read more: When Should You Reduce Your House Price?
How to sell your house in a few days or weeks
It can be very frustrating waiting around for the right buyer to appear, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Selling on the open market or going to an auction aren’t the only options available to you—you can actually sell to a cash buyer like us to get rid of your house in days or weeks.
We’ve bought houses from people like you in as little as seven days in some cases, and we can help you do the same if you’re not sure where to turn or what to do next. If you’ve done all the research you can stomach, changed your estate agents and reduced your asking price, but still not sold your house, we can help.
Simply enter your postcode in the box below to get started with your free cash offer—we’ll be in touch within 24 hours with your offer and you can decide where to go from there (with no obligation to sell, of course).
Edit Log
24/09/2025 - Content rewritten by Jessica Buckley, expert contribution by Karl McArdle
24/09/2025 - Content updated in line with Editorial Guidelines (Reviewed by Mathew McCorry)
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