Almost three-quarters (73%) of house patrons this yr up to now have been chain-free, in accordance with evaluation.
That is up from simply over two-thirds (69%) of patrons who weren’t a part of a housing chain final yr.
Promoting to a chain-free purchaser is commonly a most popular possibility for sellers seeking to pace up a sale and scale back the probabilities of it falling by way of because the sale doesn’t hinge on different home gross sales efficiently going by way of.
Property agent Hamptons, which used its personal knowledge for the analysis, mentioned it at the moment takes the typical chain-free purchaser 91 days to change after having a suggestion accepted – 20 days faster than a purchaser who had a property to promote.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of analysis at Hamptons, mentioned: “The present tempo of the market has put patrons with a house to promote in the back of the queue.
“In a fast-paced market akin to at this time, over three-quarters of sellers had a number of presents on the desk to select from.
“And given chain-free patrons have a tendency to finish faster and gross sales are much less more likely to fall by way of, they’re quick turning into the popular possibility for sellers.
“Nevertheless, chains serve an necessary position available in the market, serving to individuals transfer up and down the housing ladder.
“And it’s second and third steppers (shifting up the steps of the property ladder) alongside downsizers who depend on the capital raised from the sale of their house for his or her subsequent buy who’re discovering it significantly powerful.
“That is additionally exacerbating the shortage of inventory given their properties are more and more being purchased by first-time patrons and traders who don’t have a property to promote.
“Roughly talking, for each 10 properties offered up to now in 2022, solely three of these patrons will deliver a house on to the market to promote, creating a sequence.”