According to Propertymark’s housing report for August, the number of new buyers registering per member branch in August rose to 86, which is a 79 per cent increase since December last year.
Propertymark said that this was up from around 60 in July and could indicate the “start of a pick-up for the autumn season”.
It continued that there were 11 new instructions on average per member branch and new instructions had been fairly stable since December last year, ranging between nine and 10.
The average number of properties available to buy per member branch came to 28 in August, above the previous month’s figure of 24 but below the pre-pandemic average of 40 properties available in August.
However, Propertymark said that 28 properties was a growth of nine per member branch since December 2021, or an increase of 47 per cent.
The proportion of buyers securing homes under the asking price has staid roughly stable in August with 27 per cent of firms reporting that most sales were completed below the asking price.
Nathan Emerson (pictured), chief executive of Propertymark, said: “The number of people wanting to buy is still good, and the number of properties available to buy is recovering from the mad dash we had before.
“Buyers and sellers alike are aware of cost of living increases and interest rate rises, there are those of a generation who will remember much higher rates but there is a new wave of buyers who won’t have seen these levels before that will become more cautious with their budget.”
He added: “What we have today however, is the ability to be flexible on location due to remote working which has a large impact on price. This new dynamic will help home movers and is a factor that hasn’t previously existed.”
More tenants registering but supply static
The number of new tenant registering per average per member branch reached a new high of 141 in August, but rental supply has not grown in the last three months revealing a “growing mismatch”.
Members have around 10.9 properties on average per member branch. This is up 98 per cent from December but flat on June and July.
Around 77 per cent of member agents said that rent prices had risen month-on-month and Propertymark added that supply demand mismatch would put more pressure on rents, and they were likely to rise further.
Emerson noted: “In the rental market, we see a pressure cooker getting hotter. The government seem to be missing every opportunity to reevaluate costs for landlords, whilst this isn’t the most sentimentally attractive conversation for politicians it must be understood that if investment doesn’t work for landlords, ultimately tenants are severely impacted by a lack of choice and high rent prices.”
