The Propertymark Housing Market Insight for January reported an 80 per cent rise in new buyer demand, with the average number of prospective buyers per estate agency branch increasing from 39 in December to 70 in January.
The association said the rise in activity followed normal trends as buyers tended to wait until the new year to search for homes.
The average number of viewings in January also saw an uptick to 2.9, which was higher than December’s low of 1.8. Average viewings were also similar to the levels seen in October, following monthly declines from November onwards.
Supply also rose to match the increase in demand, with an 80 per cent monthly rise in January. The average number of new instructions went up from five in December to nine last month. This was also similar to activity seen in October last year.
The number of sales agreed per member branch rose to an average of six, compared to a low of four in December. The level of property stock available per estate agency was steady at 30.
Some 73 per cent of property sales were below asking price which was relatively unchanged compared to the month before.
In the rental market, an expected rise in tenant demand was seen. Some 108 new applicants registered per member branch in January, up from 64 in December.
Some 10 rental properties per estate agent branch were available in January, flat on the month before. However, this level of supply was not aligned with demand as there were 11 prospective tenants per property on average.
Rents are staying stable, the report found, with 52 per cent of agents reporting no changes since December.
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, said: “Serious buyers are still very much in the market, but more homes are coming up for sale, meaning competition is considerably lower that what we have previously seen. This provides buyers with all important purchasing power, but sellers are still comfortably gaining with prices still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
“The number of applicants looking to rental property rose sharply in January, and although we have seen a slight increase in the number of properties available per member branch, it is nowhere near enough to keep in line with high demand.”
