342% more property sales complete on ‘Buy Nothing Day’

The latest research from London lettings and estate agent,
Benham and Reeves, has revealed that ahead of this year’s ‘Buy Nothing Day’ on 29th November – when many of us will be making a conscious choice not to make any purchases – an average of 342% more property sales complete are likely to complete versus the rest of the month.

Buy Nothing Day is an initiative held every 25th November to detox from consumerism and to ‘tune into the impact we have on the environment through shopping’.

The aim is to reduce the environmental risks and impact associated with overconsumption in developed countries and participation is as simple as not participating by making no purchases.

However, analysis of property transaction data* conducted by Benham and Reeves shows that a considerably higher number of homebuyers make what’s most likely to be the biggest purchase of their lives on Buy Nothing Day.

The figures show that over the last five years, an average of 2,470 property sales complete per day during the month of November.

However, when looking at the 25th November specifically, an average of 10,916 property sales have completed over the last five years.

This means that some 342% more homes complete on Buy Nothing Day versus the average daily completion total seen during the month of November.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented

“The property purchasing process is a long and unpredictable one and, as a result, homebuyers really have no concrete idea as to when they will reach the finish line.

In some cases, they may be particularly unlucky and be subjected to the dreaded fall through, but otherwise it’s a case of sitting tight and waiting for each piece of the puzzle to fall into place.

Interestingly, this has seen a far higher number of homebuyers make what’s likely to be their biggest life purchase on Buy Nothing Day versus the rest of the month of November – albeit the decision to do so was largely out of their hands.”