Is there a correlation between the UK’s fastest-moving areas (Rightmove research) and homeowners needing a speedy sale of their property?
The Map illustrates Rightmove’s 2018 fastest moving locations together with Flying Homes quick house sale hotspots:
One notable common feature emerging is that when the locations are plotted on a map most of the locations are within a radius of 40/50 miles (North and South) of the M62 motorway which stretches from Knotty Ash in Liverpool, Merseyside in the West to North Cave, near Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, a distance of 107 miles.
There is a correlation between the UK’s fastest-moving locations and quick sale hotspots.
The Flying Homes survey into ‘quick home sale hotspots’ identified the top 10 locations as:
- Barnsley
- Doncaster
- Oldham
- Preston
- Rotherham
- Chesterfield
- Halifax
- Hartlepool
- Wigan
- Grimsby
The Rightmove survey reveals the top 10 fastest moving locations in 2018 as:
- Newport
- Oldham
- Scunthorpe
- Rochdale
- Leigh
- Wrexham
- Southport
- Colwyn Bay
- Dewsbury
- Birkenhead
At first glance from TABLE A, there isn’t much of a correlation between the towns in the quick home sale hotspots and the fastest moving locations (apart from Oldham in Lancashire appearing at number 3 and 2, respectively).
TABLE A
| Town | Quick Sale Rank | Fastest Moving Rank | County |
| Chesterfield | 6 | Not ranked | Derbyshire |
| Barnsley | 1 | Not ranked | South Yorkshire |
| Doncaster | 2 | Not ranked | South Yorkshire |
| Rotherham | 5 | Not ranked | South Yorkshire |
| Dewsbury | Not ranked | 9 | West Yorkshire |
| Halifax | 7 | Not ranked | West Yorkshire |
| Newport | Not ranked | 1 | Gwent |
| Colwyn Bay | Not ranked | 8 | Conwy |
| Birkenhead | Not ranked | 10 | Merseyside |
| Southport | Not ranked | 7 | Merseyside |
| Wrexham | Not ranked | 6 | Clwyd |
| Preston | 4 | Not ranked | Lancashire |
| Oldham | 3 | 2 | Greater Manchester |
| Wigan | 9 | Not ranked | Greater Manchester |
| Rochdale | Not ranked | 4 | Greater Manchester |
| Leigh | Not ranked | 5 | Greater Manchester |
| Grimsby | 10 | Not ranked | Lincolnshire |
| Scunthorpe | Not ranked | 3 | Lincolnshire |
In TABLE B (below), The County locations below identify as ‘quick sale hotspots’ and fast-moving areas.’ Apart from Lincolnshire, It is predominantly the Northern Counties of South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester, which account for fast-moving locations / quick sale hotspots.
Other Rightmove’ fast-moving areas’ that do not rank very well as ‘quick sale’ hotspots are Wrexham, Colwyn Bay and Newport (North and South Wales, respectively) and Southport Merseyside. However, it’s worth mentioning that property is generally cheaper in Merseyside and North Wales, which correlates typically with quick home sale hotspot locations.
TABLE B (Identifies just the UK Counties for both quick sale hotspots and fastest-moving locations).
| Town | County |
| Chesterfield | Derbyshire |
| Barnsley | South Yorkshire |
| Doncaster | South Yorkshire |
| Rotherham | South Yorkshire |
| Dewsbury | West Yorkshire |
| Halifax | West Yorkshire |
| Newport | Gwent |
| Colwyn Bay | Conwy |
| Birkenhead | Merseyside |
| Southport | Merseyside |
| Wrexham | Clwyd |
| Preston | Lancashire |
| Oldham | Greater Manchester |
| Wigan | Greater Manchester |
| Rochdale | Greater Manchester |
| Leigh | Greater Manchester |
| Grimsby | Lincolnshire |
| Scunthorpe | Lincolnshire |
The top 10 dataset for the Flying Homes quick sale hotspots overlapped with fast-moving locations identifies Oldham in both datasets. At the County level, Lancashire/ Greater Manchester features Preston and Wigan (quick-sale hotspots) and join Rochdale and Leigh (fast-moving locations).
What can be deduced from the analysis together of quick home sale locations and fastest-moving areas?
The analysis may confirm some or all of the following:
- House sellers desperate for a quick house sale will push through their home’s deal in the shortest timeframe.
- House buyers recognise they have a bargain property and want to secure their purchase and complete it in a short timescale.
- Both buyers and sellers (specifically in Oldham) recognise their mutual wish for property transactions to finalise quickly.
- Local searches, etc., may be faster in the above locations; therefore, sales of properties finalise quicker.
Use Rightmove’s property search tools to find a property in the above locations and Rightmove Plus for analysis if you are an agent.
