Property data company TwentyEA are saying that the decline in house prices “may have been overstated”

Main Points

1. UK Housing Market: The UK housing market is holding strong despite some economic challenges like rising mortgage rates and inflation. In other words, even though there are some tough times economically, the property market is still doing well.
2. New Listings: The number of new homes coming onto the market, known as ‘new instructions’, is the highest it’s been in four years. There are now approximately 986,000 new listings with about 659,000 of these having found potential buyers (‘sales agreed’).
3. Comparison to Last Year: 2022 was a super active year for the property market, but this year there’s been a slight drop in demand. Despite this, there are more properties available for buyers to choose from.
4. Housing Stock: There are more properties available for sale in the higher price range (above £350,000). For homes priced between £200,000 and £350,000, the number of available properties has gone up by over 50% from last year. However, there’s a shortage of cheaper properties (under £350,000), partly because not enough new homes are being built. In fact, there’s a backlog of 4.3 million homes that haven’t been constructed yet.
5. Comparing with 2019: If we look back at 2019 (before the pandemic and all its challenges), there are now fewer properties available in most areas. However, the East and West Midlands and Inner London are exceptions – they have more properties up for sale than they did in 2019.
6. Prices: The gap between what sellers are asking for and what buyers are actually paying hasn’t really changed from before the pandemic. The average listed price of properties has increased by 2.8% over the last year, with the final sale prices showing similar growth.
7. Speed of Sale: On average, it’s taking about 61 days (or two months) to sell a property. That’s a bit longer than last year but still quicker than in 2019. If you’re selling a cheaper property (under £200,000), you can expect it to take about 55 days. If you’re in Scotland, properties sell the quickest (45 days), but in Inner London, it takes the longest (83 days).

CEO’s Thoughts

Colin Bradshaw, the head of their parent company TwentyCi, shared some thoughts with Property Industry Eye:

• “Buyer demand is reassuringly resilient despite the economic headwinds of interest rate rises and inflation, while keen sellers are proving determined and are pressing on with their moves.”
• Despite challenges like rising interest rates and inflation, people still want to buy homes, and sellers are still eager to sell.
• The number of sales might be a bit lower than last year’s exceptional activity, but it’s still a robust market.
• There’s been an improvement in the number of properties available across all price ranges.
• Both asking and selling prices are still increasing, showing that the market is still healthy.
• Bradshaw believes that the fear of a major market decline might have been exaggerated or blown out of proportion.

In essence, while there are some challenges in the UK property market, it’s showing strength and resilience. The market might not be as red-hot as last year, but things are still active, and the outlook is generally positive.