According to research from Savills and TwentyCi, agreed sales from July 2020 to April 2020 were on average 43 per cent higher than the same period in 2019, which meant stock at the end of this period was 19 per cent down on 2019 levels.
It continued that agreed sales since April 2021 were on average 16 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels, but stock coming to the market was eight per cent below “normal levels”.
This has meant stock levels have become seriously eroded, reaching a low point in January this year when they were 37 per cent below 2019 levels.
The research said that since March, new properties coming to market had started to normalise, with listings were two per cent lower than the same period in 2019.
However, it said that while 431,000 homes were available to buy last month, this was 218,000 below the same month in 2019, which is a fall of 34 per cent.
The research said comparing stock to number of agreed sales that there was 3.25 months worth of stock in the market in March this year.
This is down by around half compared to the same period in 2019, when there was 5.95 months of worth of stock on the market.
The report said that the biggest stock shortage were in Wales, South West and North East, where the number of homes available to buy were 43, 45 and 48 per cent lower than March 2019 levels.
This has led to a slowing in buying activity in Wales and South West as agreed sales in March were 12 and 15 per cent lower than March 2019 levels.
London has the least shortage of stock, which is just five per cent levels three years ago. This is due to higher number of flats for sale in the capital, which were more difficult to sell.
The report added that in March, London saw the highest levels of activity compared to 2019, which shows demand is returning to the city post-pandemic.
London also has higher levels of stock compared to other regions at 5.99 months. This compares to regional average of 2.93 months.
