Propertymark issues its Housing Insight Report for November 2022

Propertymark issues its Housing Insight Report for November 2022, which shows that the sales market is firmly back with buyers.

Key metrics:

36%

decrease in buyer competition

72%

of sales agreed below the asking price

51%

of agents report rents falling or staying the same month on month

7

prospective tenants register in member branches for each available property

 

Summary:

Good things come to those who wait, and it seems that this is true in today’s housing market. 72 per cent of sales agreed were secured below the asking price in November. This is because competition has dropped by over a third, from a high of 11 new buyers to every new property instructed, now to just 7 buyers to every new property for sale in a member branch.

Buyers who were caught in bidding wars are now back in the driving seat as total available properties on the market continues to rise to an average of 33 properties per estate agent branch. That is a 74 per cent increase in homes to choose from since the start of the year

For lettings, the average number of new prospective tenants registered per member branch remained low in November, while the number of available properties rose slightly. The rise in supply over demand has reduced pressure on rents, with the number of agents reporting month-on-month rent price rises falling below 50 per cent for the first time since February 2021.

Sales:
    • Savvy buyers snap up a Christmas bargain as competition drops by a third
    • The number of new buyers registering per member branch dropped again to 52 in November—down from a high of 86 in August.
    • The average number of viewings per property continued to fall in November and now stands at 2.6.
    • New instructions were down on average to eight per member branch in November.
    • The average number of properties available to buy per member branch rose slightly to 33 in November. This compares to a pre-pandemic average for November of 38 (2015–2019).
    • The average number of sales agreed per member branch dropped to six in November—down from 10 in
    • 72 per cent of branches had most sales agreed below asking price.
Lettings:
    • Pressure continues to come down on rents
    • An average of 77 new applicants were registered per member branch. This number has continued the drop off since September’s high of 147; however, it is still above the pre-pandemic average.
    • 11 properties on average per member branch that were available to rent.
    • 49 per cent of member branches reported month-on-month rent prices increasing.
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, comments:

“The sales market is firmly back in the hands of buyers who have been on the back foot for 18 months. More property is available but the competition between those looking has cooled substantially. For those motivated to sell, good, solid buyers are still prominent.

“As for lettings, we are starting to see a decrease in demand, the knock on effect is that less agents are seeing rent rises. It’s possible that prices have peaked, and landlords are well aware that any more rises won’t necessarily be achieved.

“This is not all good news however, as landlords’ costs are still rising, leaving many facing a very real possibility of making a loss.”

 

See the full Propertymark Housing Market Insight Report for November here.

 

Kindly shared by Propertymark

Main photo courtesy of Pixabay