Housing supply and demand
The housing report also highlighted a drop in housing supply, as the number of properties available to buy per member branch dropped from 25 down to 23. This means that there is an average of 19 buyers for every available property on the market.
The number of sales made to first-time buyers has remained a static 27 per cent in June, a continuation that has been recorded since March 2021.
Additionally, the average number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch has decreased to 426 during June, from 502 reported in May. Despite decreasing for the month, this is still high when compared to previous year-on-year figures.
The average number of sales agreed per estate agent branch, however, saw a slight dip from 12 to 11, but still remains the highest for the month of June over the last four years.
It is astonishing to see demand for housing breaking records yet again this month, with more and more homes selling for over the asking price this year as consumers hurried to beat the first tapered stamp duty deadline.
With 19 buyers per available property, we are very firmly still in a strong sellers’ market; properties are being snapped up swiftly and at record high prices.
We do anticipate a rebalancing of the market over the coming months however, which is much needed.
As the stamp duty holiday continues to be phased out and people return to normality now that most Covid restrictions have been lifted, they will be spending money saved during the pandemic on white goods for their new homes.
