In another sign that the housing market is picking up, the time taken from advertising a home for sale to agreeing a price has fallen to its lowest level since 2007.
That is the finding of the latest research from Hamptons International.
It revealed that in the last quarter of 2013, it took on average less than eight and a half weeks to agree a price, nearly two weeks less than the same period in 2012.
In London it is even quicker with a property averaging less than five and a half weeks on the market before an offer is accepted.
At the other extreme is Wales where it takes an average of almost 14 and a half weeks to agree a sale.
Johnny Morris, Head of Research at Hamptons International, said: "While the time to agree a sale has fallen by a fifth, which chimes with the recovery in the market, the average masks a wide variation.
"One in 10 property sales are agreed in the first week and two thirds in a month, but some have been around as long as a British Rail sandwich! These stalwarts of unsold stock have been popping up in portal searches for as long as we can remember which just goes to show that even in a sellers' market, not everything shifts quickly."
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