Housing Demand is Currently at a 12-Month Low

Housing demand is currently at a 12-month low, according to the August Housing Report from NAEA Propertymark (the National Association of Estate Agents).

Housing demand 

As holidaymakers set off abroad last month, the average number of house hunters registered at estate agent branches dropped to a 12-month low, at 343. This was down from 347 in July, but up from 284 in June.

The level of housing demand hasn’t been this low since last August (2016), when estate agents had an average of 287 house hunters registered per branch.

Property supply

However, the average number of properties available to buy on estate agents’ books increased marginally in August, from 35 in July to 37.

Sales agreed

The proportion of sales agreed to first time buyers remained at 23% in August, having fallen from 30% in June.

As expected during the summer, the amount of sales agreed per estate agent branch also remained low in August, with eight on average per branch.

The Chief Executive of NAEA Propertymark, Mark Hayward, says: “House hunters tend to put their plans on hold over the summer months while they prioritise holidays and, as a result of this trend, stock is usually lower. However, while we saw the number of properties available increase very marginally last month, it wasn’t remotely enough to start to close the gap between supply and demand. We shouldn’t take August’s decline as a sign of things to come – we’ll see the market bounce back in September and ramp up towards the end of the year as house buyers desperately try to complete transactions before Christmas.”

NAEA Propertymark’s partner organisation, ARLA Propertymark (the Association of Residential Letting Agents), has recently revealed its latest report for the lettings sector, also for August. Read the figures and compare the two markets online here: https://www.justlandlords.co.uk/news/tenants-continue-face-rising-rents/