Demand for housing
- The number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch increased in August, from 316 to 433
- Year-on-year, housing demand has grown, rising from 320 house hunters per branch in August 2018.
Figure 1: Number of house hunters per branch
Supply of available properties
- The number of properties available per member branch also increased in August, from 41 in July to 44
- Year-on-year, the supply of housing is up, rising from 40.
Sales agreed
- The summer months showed no sign of a slowdown as the number of sales agreed per member branch remained at nine in August, the same level for the fourth month running.
Sales to first-time buyers
- The number of sales made to FTBs remained the same in August, at 26 per cent.
- Year-on-year, this is an increase of six percentage points from August 2018 when it stood at 20 per cent.
The summer months can often result in the market quietening down as families stop for their holidays, but our data has shown demand continually increasing over the warmer period and the number of sales agreed remaining high for the fourth month in a row. The ongoing Brexit uncertainty is unsettling, but we are seeing prospective buyers are returning to the marketplace as they realise that they can’t keep putting life on hold indefinitely.
