Research conducted by online estate agents HouseSimple.com has revealed that the number of UK homeowners putting their property on the market has increased during the past month.
Index
The agent’s Property Supply Index looks at the number of new properties that are listed on the market each week in over 100 major towns and cities across the UK. In particular, the pay-as-you-go agent studies properties that have been listed on property portal Rightmove.
This month’s report indicates that the number of homes on the market has increased by 7.1% in comparison to May. Stock levels remain low, but these figures serve as encouragement that more homeowners are beginning to regain confidence to attempt to sell their houses.
UK towns and cities that have seen the highest increases in new listings over the previous month were:
| Town/City | Region | % rise in new listings in the past month vs previous month |
| Swindon | South West | 47.3 |
| Liverpool | North West | 30.4 |
| Leicester | East Midlands | 30.4 |
| Lancaster | North West | 24.3 |
| Sunderland | North East | 22 |
| Halifax | Yorkshire & the Humber | 21.5 |
| Coventry | West Midlands | 21.1 |
| Hereford | West Midlands | 19 |
| Lincoln | East Midlands | 17.6 |
| Oxford | South East | 17.5 |
| Dundee | Scotland | 17.5 |
| Edinburgh | Scotland | 17.2 |
| Blackpool | North West | 17.2 |
| Hartlepool | North East | 17.1 |
| Bolton | North West | 16.3 |
Divide
Swindon recorded the largest rise in new property listings, with a large increase of 47.3% during the last month. The figures indicate a substantial north-south divide, with homeowners in the north of the UK more pro-active in registering their properties over the period. Nine of fifteen new property-listing risers are in the north of England or Scotland.[1]
The largest drops in new listings on the market in major UK towns and cities over the last month were recorded in the following regions.
| Town/City | Region | % fall in new listings in the past month vs previous month |
| Winchester | South East | 17.9 |
| Hull | Yorkshire & the Humber | 13.7 |
| Doncaster | Yorkshire & the Humber | 12.5 |
| Cambridge | East | 8.7 |
| Nottingham | East Midlands | 8.1 |
| Torquay | South West | 7.6 |
| Grimsby | Yorkshire & the Humber | 6.2 |
| Norwich | East | 5.8 |
| Glasgow | Scotland | 5.7 |
Winchester in the South East of England has seen new listings dip sharply by 17.9% during the past month. Hull and Doncaster have seen falls of 13.7% and 12.5%.[1]
Stampede
Alex Gosling, CEO of online estate agents HouseSimple.com stated that, ‘a stampede of sellers coming to market was expected after the General Election result, but that stampede never materialised.’ He believes that in fact, ‘for the first few weeks there appeared to be a fair amount of caution and reluctance amongst sellers to market.’[1]
Mr Gosling suggests now however, ‘it appears sellers have waited long enough and we’re starting to see some movement.’ He appreciates that, ‘new stock levels are still quite low but it will be reassuring for the market to see that two thirds of UK towns and cities have seen stock levels rise in the past month.’[1]
Concluding, Gosling said, ‘the market still needs more stock to temper house price growth. One of the reasons why prices haven’t cooled and are seemingly on a relentless, upwards trajectory has been a lack of new properties coming onto te market, especially in London. Hopefully, we’re going to start seeing a rebalancing of supply and demand.’[1]
[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/new-property-listings-up-71.html