Even though interest rates are still relatively high, there are more homes being snapped up compared to last year. That’s according to the latest figures from property experts GetAgent. They say 43.9% of homes for sale in England have already been snapped up – that’s 2.6% more than this time last year.
Where is the hottest competition?
GetAgent looked at every county in England and these came out on top as buyer hotspots:
- Bristol: A massive 61.4% of homes on the market are already under offer or sold subject to contract.
- Bedfordshire: Coming in second with 53.6%.
- Tyne & Wear: Close behind in third place (52.7%).
- South Yorkshire: Another strong contender at 52.6%
- Berkshire: Rounding off the top 5 with 49.7% of homes flying off the shelves.
Biggest winners (for sellers!)
Bedfordshire takes the crown for the biggest jump in buyer demand. They’ve seen a huge 10.2% increase in people battling it out for properties compared to last year!
Other areas where sellers are laughing all the way to the bank:
- Buckinghamshire: Demand up 5.7%
- Tyne & Wear: Demand up 5.5%
- Leicestershire: Demand up 5.3%
- South Yorkshire: Demand up 5.1%
What’s the reason for the slowdown?
It seems like the recent election hasn’t given buyers the confidence boost everyone was hoping for.
Colby Short, the boss at GetAgent reckons it’s all down to those pesky interest rates:
“Interest rates simply haven’t fallen as quickly as many buyers may have hoped, so there remains a sense of buyer hesitation across the market.”
Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
The good news is that experts think this dip in demand won’t last long. With the recent interest rate cut (the first in four years!) they believe things will pick up again soon.
Colby Short seems optimistic:
“We can also be optimistic about the fact that while quarterly demand has stuttered, buyer appetite is better today than it was last year, which means the market is headed in the right direction.”