SUMMER SLUMP AS SUPPLY OF HOUSES AVAILABLE TO BUY DIPS

  • The supply of homes available to buy last month was at the lowest level recorded for the month of July since 2002

  • Demand for available housing also decreased

  • The number of properties sold to first-time buyers dropped as well

  • NAEA Propertymark issues July Housing Report

NAEA Propertymark (National Association of Estate Agents) is today issuing its July Housing Report.1

Supply of properties

  • The number of properties available to buy on estate agents’ books dropped from 37 in June to 35 in July
  • This figure is the lowest level recorded for the month of July since records began in 2002

Figure 1: Number of properties available per branch in July since 2002

Sales agreed and sales to first-time buyers (FTBs)

  • The proportion of sales made to FTBs fell 30 per cent in June to 23 per cent in July
  • This is the lowest level seen since last September when the rate was also 23 per cent. The last time it was lower than 23 per cent was in November 2015, when 21 per cent of sales were made to FTBs
  • Typical of this time of year, the number of sales agreed per branch fell in July. In June there were 11 sales agreed per branch, compared to just 8 last month.

Demand for housing

  • Seasonality hit house hunters, as the number of people looking for properties fell 10 per cent from 384 per branch in June, compared to 347 in July
  • This is the lowest it has been since November 2016 when 344 potential buyers were registered per branch, however a considerable increase from July 2016, when just 298 were recorded.

What properties sold for

  • Only three per cent of properties were sold above asking price in July, an increase of one percentage point from June
  • The number of homes which sold for less than asking price rose to 80 per cent last month – up from one per cent in June and the highest level since December 2016.
Mark Hayward, Chief Executive, NAEA Propertymark said:

“It is natural for the market to dip in the summer and then recover. We usually see a subdued July and August, and then a boom in September with an influx of new properties coming onto the market, it remains to be seen whether this year is typical.  We’d also expect to see the number of house hunter increase, as buyers strive to complete sales before the winter kicks in.”

Kindly shared by NAEA Propertymark