With stamp duty cuts fuelling a boom in the property market, buyers are rushing to complete on homes before the end of the March deadline.

But if you made an offer in the later half of this year, it is possible you may not have the keys to your new home until 2021.

Online estate agents Emoov have revealed the areas in the UK with the longest and shortest property transaction timelines.

Across the UK, the average transaction is taking a sluggish 26 weeks from offer to completion. Unfortunately, Hertfordshire is among the areas with the slowest moving housing markets - it is the eighth slowest county.

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House sales in the county take, on average, 193 days until completion. This means offers made today may not be complete until June next year.

The City of London is the worst place to try to sell or buy a home, with an average transaction time of 208 days.

And the quickest place for home sales is Worcestershire, with an average transaction time of 164 days.

The data is based on four years of property transaction data from TwentyCi’s Property Homemover Report between March 2016 and April 2020.

St Albans & Harpenden Review:

Naveen Jaspal, chief operating officer at Emoov comments on the research: “It is hard to say how the property market will react to the impact of Covid-19 in the medium-long term, but we can expect to see an even bigger increase in time on the market and how long that might be will depend upon where you are buying or selling in the UK.

“We can also expect the conveyancing process to add to these timelines, as the industry adjusts to working from home and the challenges that brings.

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"The key to a quick sale is to get your pricing correct along with great marketing photos. The best way to sell your home for the best price is to actually market your home for a competitive price within the current market, given the demand in your area. Overpriced homes will sit on the market, and may end up having to be discounted, and the longer you are on the market the less attractive you are to buyers.”