Property exchanges taking a month longer – Enness in The Times

Homes are going under offer faster than they have for a decade, yet it is taking longer for sales to complete — with the buying process fraught with backlogs and delays.

Nationwide recently sent out an alert to brokers, stating that it was taking an average of 19 working days for an initial underwriting of a mortgage application. “Previously one wouldn’t expect to have to wait more than a week for an initial underwrite. Nineteen working days is four weeks, which is the usual target length of time for someone to exchange after having an offer accepted,” says Hugh Wade-Jones, managing director of Enness Global Mortgages.

“Add to that — assuming everything is fine, which is a big assumption — you have 11 working days for a valuation to be carried out, 11 working days from receipt to being assessed — and it may take a week to be returned — so you’re in for a couple of months.”

Click here to read more