Propertymark: Housing market beginning to stabilise

Posted on Wednesday, August 25, 2021

The number of properties that sold for more than the asking price dropped from 40% in June to 31% in July in a sign that the housing market is stabilising, the latest figures from Propertymark show.

Despite this fall, the percentage of properties beating their original listing price was still the highest figure on record for the month of July, beating the previous record of 8 per cent in 2020.

The average number of sales agreed per estate agent branch fell slightly to 10 in July, from June’s figure of 11.

This figure is also lower than July 2020 when there were 13 sales agreed per branch on average.

The number of properties available per member branch stood at 28 in July, a slight jump from June’s figure of 23 per branch.

This the lowest figure on record for the month of July with the previous lowest July being during 2017 when there were 35 houses available to buy per branch.

The average number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch stood at 428 in July, which is a slight increase from 426 in June.

Year-on-year this is the same as July 2020 when the figure also stood at 428.

This means there is an average of 15 buyers for every available property on the market.

The share of sales to first-time buyers fell to 20% in July from June’s figure of 27%.

Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson says: “This month’s slight rebalance of the market is welcome news and a much-needed step in the right direction, with supply of property beginning to increase and the number of homes selling for over the asking price starting to even out.

“Now that the stamp duty holiday is close to its end, we expect this trend to continue in the coming months as people and spending habits return to normality post Covid.”

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