London homes sell three times faster than North East

London homes sell three times faster than those in the North East of England, according to data from Home.co.uk.

The figures show that a typical listing in the UK capital spends just 48 days on the market, far lower than the 167 days recorded by the average North East home.

The gap underlines the sheer extremes of the UK's bipolar housing market, with marketing times in the South East dramatically outpacing supply as the Help to Buy scheme stimulates confidence among newly active buyers.

Regional markets, though, have a larger backlog of properties for sale which have been on the market for a long time - some as long as a year. Until the ample supply of homes for sale is bought up, the recovery of the regions is expected to stay much slower than London and its surrounding areas.

The marked difference, though, is concealed by the average figures, which show that the median home in the UK spends just 90 days on the market before finding a buyer, the shortest time since 2008. On the surface, the conditions are improving for vendors up and down the country. For those up more than down, though, selling a property remains a potentially tough achievement.

However, Doug Shephard, director at Home.co.uk, says that regional home sellers should not give up home: "Market conditions are currently improving rapidly in the North, Scotland and Wales. We may soon be able to add some, if not all, to the list of booming regional markets over the next 12 months. Goodness knows how the London and South East markets will look by then."