Home viewings in Yorkshire cost buyers £2,800 a minute

Buying a home in Yorkshire costs an average of almost £2,800 for every minute the buyer spends viewing the property, new research reveals.

And for more than one in three homebuyers in the region (36 per cent) who have an offer accepted after just one viewing, the ‘cost-per-minute’ rockets to £5,267.

The research, for First Direct bank, found that Yorkshire house hunters spend an average of 57 minutes viewing the property they eventually buy. Based on the region’s average house price* of £158,000, that works out at £2,772 per minute.

On average, a homebuyer in Yorkshire will visit a property 1.93 times before submitting an offer. Only buyers in the East of England average fewer viewings, at 1.88. Homebuyers in London average the most viewings (2.58).

Fewer than one in five (18 per cent) buyers in Yorkshire view the property on at least three occasions before making an offer.

Joe Gordon, head of First Direct, said: “Every week thousands of homebuyers are making six-figure decisions based on one quick tour of a property. Unfortunately, a lot of buyers then find they’re faced with expensive repair and renovation bills because they hadn’t done thorough checks beforehand.

“While the market is moving so fast in some areas it’s understandable people feel they need to make a quick decision. But buying a property is the biggest financial commitment most of us will make so it’s vital to do your homework.”

Nationally, 36 per cent of homebuyers make a property purchase based on one viewing. Based on the UK average house price of more than £226,000, that works out at more than £7,530 per viewing minute.