Stamp Duty holiday continues to encourage house-hunters as demand increases by two-fifths

Stamp Duty holiday continues to encourage house-hunters as demand increases by two-fifths, according to analysis by NAEA Propertymark in their January Housing Report.

Main points from report:
  • Number of prospective buyers rose by 40 per cent in January and supply of properties also increased
  • Record number of sales taking more than 17 weeks from offer to exchange of contracts
  • The average number of sales agreed reached the highest amount for the month of January since 2007

Demand for housing

  • In January, the average number of prospective buyers registered per estate agent branch stood at 487, a 40 per cent rise from 348 in December.
  • Year-on-year, this is a 27 per cent increase from 382 in January 2020.

Time taken from offer to exchange

  • In January, a record number of property transactions (26 per cent) took over 17 weeks from the offer being accepted to exchanging contracts.

Sales agreed 

  • The average number of sales agreed per estate agent branch stood at 10 in January, an increase from eight in December.
  • This is the highest figure recorded for the month of January since 2007, when an average of 13 sales were agreed per branch.

Sales to FTBs 

  • The number of sales made to FTBs remained the same at 23 per cent in January.
  • Year-on-year, this is a decrease of six percentage points from 29 per cent in January 2020.

Supply of available properties 

  • The number of properties available per member branch stood at 38 in January, rising from 33 in December.

What properties sold for

  • In January, nine per cent of properties sold for more than the original asking price.
  • This is a rise from December when only five per cent of properties sold for more than asking price.
  • The majority (62 per cent) of properties sold for less than the original asking price.
Mark Hayward, Chief Policy Advisor, Propertymark, comments:

“The number of house hunters hitting the market in January shows the stamp duty cut has continued to encourage buyers. However, with an average of 13 house hunters for every property on the market, there is simply not the supply to meet this level of demand.

“Separately, a record number of transactions are taking nearly four months to complete, however news today reveals the Chancellor is preparing to extend the stamp duty holiday until June. We have continually lobbied Government to rethink these timings and it is good news for the sector given how many sales would have fallen at the final hurdle as we approached the 31 March cliff edge. However, extending the holiday until June will create another cliff edge. We know from our own research that the majority of estate agents expect to see an increase in the number of failed sales if the stamp duty holiday ends at a cliff edge so we need Government to consider a tapered end to the holiday so that buyers aren’t forced to pull out at the last minute and the property market can continue to thrive.”

 

Kindly shared by NAEA Propertymark

Main photo courtesy of Pixabay