The average time to sell a house depends on several factors, but here is the lowdown on how long it can take from listing to closing

You might be selling a home for the very first time and want to know the average time to sell a house so you can buy a new one or do something else with the proceeds. But if you have had a house for sale before, you know how long it takes to sell a house can vary-sometimes wildly.

This post elaborates what recent studies say about the time it takes to sell a house on average.

But first.

What are the factors that affect the average time to sell a house?

There are several of them, but here are the most influential ones to how fast a home sells from listing to closing.

• Location: No matter how affordable or appealing a house is, if it is located in an undesirable location for many buyers, it can take longer to sell.
• Condition: Good condition can attract a good house sale deal faster than a house in a poor condition
• Price: Depends on the size, location and the local market forces for buyers to consider a house affordable or expensive, hence not worth buying at the time leading to a longer listing
• Season: For example, winter is an off-season for selling a home fast
• Appeal: If a house is physically attractive from the street, it is likely to attract decent offers worth taking up fast
• Days on the Market: The longer a property stays listed, the longer it is likely to last before closing on a sale as more buyers mistake it for a bad lemon.

So, what do studies have to say about the average time it takes to sell a house?

In the US, the national average time to sell a house is just over two months at 68 days. But the National Association of Realtors quoted it to be 3 weeks in 2017-a dramatic jump in house closing rates from the 11 weeks it took in 2012.

Houses for sale in San Jose, California sell fastest in the US with an average listing to closing time of 38 days-almost half of the national average.

On the flip side, houses for sale in Ocean City, New Jersey sell slowest, slagging on listings for up to 161.5 days before a successful closing.

At around a similar average house selling time as the US national average, homes for sale in Akron (Ohio), College Station (Texas), Columbia (Missouri) and most of Wisconsin sell after 67 to 69 days from listing to closing.

Compared to the average time to sell a home in 2010 (140 days), 2018 has ramped up the real estate market although pundits still expect the market to register less than a 1% jump hence largely remain flat-rate.

In the UK, it can take up to 6 months to sell a house from listing to closing depending on the factors discussed earlier and more such as the type of property on sale.

Houses for sale in the UK sell fastest in Bristol, Edinburg, and Glasgow with the average time to sell of 51, 53 and 56 days, respectively.

How long it takes to sell a house will vary on the factors outlined above. But you can use the national average or supplied statistics on the average time to sell a house in your area to predict when you can get the home off you and move on.