£1m-plus homes selling faster in Harpenden and St Albans than almost anywhere else

Harpenden and St Albans both featured on the list of the fastest places to sell a home for £1m or more (Rightmove) (Image: Archant)

According to Rightmove, it currently takes an average of just 53 days to find a buyer for £1m-plus homes in Harpenden, placing it joint second with Edinburgh.

Cambridge tops the list (45 days), while Bristol is in fourth place (54) followed by St Albans (60). The national average is 99 days, five days slower than last year.

More expensive properties tend to take longer to find a buyer than cheaper homes - according to Rightmove, those priced £300,000 or under take 58 days on average to come under offer.

£1m-plus homes in Harpenden and St Albans are being snapped up faster now than they were a year ago – two weeks faster in the case of the former, and three days for the latter.

Andrew Bradford of Bradford & Howley, who have offices in Harpenden, St Albans and Marshalswick, said: “We have been experiencing good demand for £1m-plus homes for some time.

“The only problem we have been experiencing is the lack of £1m-plus homes for sale. There are a lot of people in and around Harpenden and St Albans looking for larger family homes.”

Rightmove’s Housing Market Analyst Miles Shipside said: “Those lucky enough to be selling a home worth a million or more should think carefully about what they can do to make their home stand out. Potential buyers will be wondering if they can afford not only to trade up to the next rung of the ladder, but also to stump up stamp duty fees of over £40,000 in England and even more in Scotland and Wales.

“They should also bear in mind that it could take some months to secure an offer so putting their home on the market now will prevent a mad rush to find a buyer when they find something that they have their heart set on.”