The most recent report from HouseSimple has indicated that there was a 7% increase in property supply across the UK during May.
This increase comes after a 4% fall in April and suggests that sellers want to secure an offer before the impending General Election result in early June.
New Property Listings
Almost 80% of towns and cities covered by the report saw an increase in new property listings in May in comparison to April.
The largest rises were evident in Barnsley, Wolverhampton and Canterbury, with new listings here totalling 74.6%, 52.1% and 51.9% respectively.
However, the report does show that levels of supply have swung substantially in many areas during the last two months. Oldham and Northampton saw new listings rise significantly in April but drop in May.
In London, the ups and downs of new property supply in May across all 32 boroughs were less vivid than in April. New property listings here were up by 5.2% during the last month.
Two areas that did see significant swings were Newham and Sutton. Newham saw a rise of 23.5% in May, compared to a decline of 15.8% in April. On the other hand, Sutton saw falls of 28.1% in May, with a drop of 19.2% in April.
Property supply rises ahead of General Election
Uncertainty
Alex Gosling, CEO of HouseSimple noted: ‘Political and economic uncertainty surrounding a General Election can often see sellers hold off marketing until after the result is known. However, the 7% rise in May suggests many sellers aren’t waiting and marketed their properties last month to try and secure an offer before the Election result.’[1]
‘There is something to be said for doing this. The Spring period, traditionally a buoyant time for the property market, has been knocked off kilter by Article 50 being invoked and the PM calling a General Election. As a result, we could see a late Spring bounce after the Election result, with a stampede of sellers putting their properties onto the market before the summer holidays. It doesn’t give home sellers a lot of time to secure a sale and the savvy and committed seller, willing to negotiate on price could well have seen an opportunity to beat this stampede and steal a march on their competition,’ he added.[1]
[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/general-election-sparks-rise-in-property-supply.html