3 Jul

Britons take just 21 minutes to choose a new home

Britons take an average of just 21 minutes to choose their new home - less than that taken to pick a new television or a coffee table, a new survey has claimed.

House buyers take just 21 minutes to choose a property A short supply of properties means that buyers feel driven to make a quick decision, experts said.

Figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) show demand for houses has overtaken supply for the last 16 months. The study found the average homebuyer spends just 21 minutes viewing a property before deciding to buy it.

On the other hand people take an average to 217 minutes to pick a satellite TV package, 284 minutes to decide upon a new television and 164 minutes to buy a coffee table.
The survey, conducted by mortgage provider ING Direct, found almost half of 1,000 recent homebuyers worried that they needed to make a swift decision to prevent another buyer from beating them to it.

Although most buys are mutual decisions (93 per cent), women are three times more likely to have the final say when there is a disagreement (73 per cent compared to 27 per cent).
Estate agents also play a part, with a quarter of buyers claiming they believe agents ‘talked up’ interest from other parties (26 per cent) and applied pressure to make a quick offer (21 per cent).
Residents in East Anglia were the quickest decision makers, taking on average 18.87 minutes to choose a home. This is followed by homeowners in the South East who take 19.54 minutes and Wales with 19.68 minutes.

In contrast, the most cautious buyers lived in Yorkshire and Humber, taking on average 23.54 minutes. The second longest were Londoners with 23.25 minutes and those is in the West Midlands took 22.31 minutes.

Johan de Wit, chief executive of ING Direct, said: "Our research shows that it is the lack of supply of homes that is driving increases in house prices.

"At first it seems strange that people will spend such little time making one of the most important decisions of their lives. However, in this market, people are afraid of missing out and are making snap decisions.”

Source: Telegraph 3rd July 2010