Brits take longer to purchase sofas than properties

April 27, 2017 by Brendan O'Neill

Home owners

According to a new study conducted by Zoopla, individuals in the UK take longer to buy a new sofa than they do when buying a new home. The Zoopla report also indicates that people spend more time watching an episode of their favourite soap than they do when buying a house.

The report states that a home buyer generally knows in less than 30 minutes of viewing a property, that they are going to buy it. However, it takes three times longer at 88 minutes, to buy a new sofa.

The fastest house hunters are in the East Midlands, taking just 26 minutes to decide that they are buying a property, while buyers in the East of England take the longest to decide whether they will go ahead with a purchase. However, this still only takes 32 minutes. People in West Yorkshire take around 30 minutes, while Yorkshire buyers take around 28 minutes.

Zoopla did discover that this wasn’t always an impetuous decision, as buyers in the UK have conducted lots of research prior to buying a home. The average house buyer spends 75 hours over 15 weeks carrying out research before buying a property. Buyers in Wales spend the longest time on research, with 83 hours over 4.5 months.

Mortgage advisers are professionally qualified to CeMAP level, so that they can offer advice on the most suitable mortgage products available, including the various types of mortgage and the varying interest rates.