However, the level of housing stock has fallen to the lowest point since Zoopla began its house price index in 2005. According to the firm, stock levels have declined by 33.2 per cent annually, creating competition among buyers and pushing prices up. The flow of newly-listed homes also fell by 9.5 per cent year-on-year in November.
Its report said while average UK house prices increased by £16,000 over the past 12 months, five million homes accounting for a fifth of the UK’s private housing stock, saw values rise by more than £35,000.
Due to this accelerated market activity, Zoopla has put the total value of all homes in the UK at £9.5trn.
Additionally, buyer demand was recorded as being 15.7 per cent higher than last year on average. The regions experiencing the most buyer demand was the East Midlands at 42 per cent, West Midlands at 35 per cent and Yorkshire at a 28 per cent increase on last year.
Post-Christmas bounce
Zoopla said although buyer demand, sales activity and newly-listed homes all slowed in recent weeks, there were signs of a resurgence in business after Christmas.
The firm said this would be driven by a continued “reassessment of home” among homeowners prompted by the pandemic.
Zoopla said last year, the number of buyers visiting its site more than doubled after Christmas. It also referred to its prediction that property transactions would drop only slightly from 1.5 million this year to 1.2 million next year.
Grainne Gilmore, head of research, Zoopla, said: “This year has been a record year for the market, with the stamp duty holiday and the pandemic-led ‘search for space’ among homeowners resulting in the highest number of sales since before the financial crisis, with 1.5m transactions.
“However, such a busy market eroded the number of homes available to buy, as properties were being snapped up so quickly. This imbalance between demand and supply has put upwards pressure on prices. On average, home values are up £16,000 on the year, but our data shows that millions of homeowners have seen a larger uplift than this during the course of 2021.”
He added: “This uplift in equity may act as a spur for more households to consider a move in 2022, further boosting the seasonal post-Christmas bounce in activity that traditionally occurs before the New Year.”
