Hundreds of houses for sale in Huddersfield are stuck in the slow lane when it comes to finding buyers, a survey has revealed.

A fifth of properties for sale across the town have been on the market for six months or more and 7.7% have been on sale for more than a year, according to data compiled by online estate agent HouseSimple.com.

One property – a two-bed terraced house in Moldgreen with a £100,000-plus price tag – was first advertised for sale in November, 2012, and is yet to find a buyer.

The longest without selling is a two-bed flat in Bolton first advertised on Rightmove in December, 2008 – more than eight years ago.

Huddersfield is seventh in the list for towns and cities with the slowest-moving property markets.

Sunderland tops the list with almost 15% of homes for sale on the market for more than 12 months followed by Wolverhampton with 10.7%, Bradford with 10.2%, Middlesborough with 9.2%, Liverpool 8.1% and Bolton 7.9%.

Wolverhampton is top for the percentage of properties on the market for more than six months at 26.1% while Bradford and Liverpool both have more than a quarter of properties on the market for longer than six months.

HouseSimple.com looked at the length of time individual properties have been listed on the Rightmove website for 50 major UK towns and cities. It found that the north of England accounted for seven of the 10 UK towns with the highest percentage of properties still unsold after more than a year on the market.

Alex Gosling, chief executive of HouseSimple.com, said: “There could be a number of reasons why properties aren’t selling in these towns. Prices may be too high or being over-valued. It could be the quality of properties coming on the market that are not attracting buyers. Or it could simply be that buyers aren’t committing and even if properties are reasonably priced, they are willing to wait to find the right house at the right price.

He said it was important for sellers to price their property fairly, adding: “If you price is too high for the area your home won’t sell even if it’s an exceptional property. It’s very easy now for potential buyers to check sold prices along streets to see if a property is over-priced.

“Also, be prepared to negotiate if you want to get a quick sale. For the sake of a few thousands pounds, it might be worth taking a firm offer from a committed buyer.”