Demand for housing

• The number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch fell by 15 per cent in February, from 297 in January, to 252
• This is the lowest figure since July 2013, when agents recorded 250 prospective buyers on average per branch
• Year-on-year, demand for housing has fallen by a fifth (18 per cent) from 309 in February 2018, more than two fifths (41 per cent) from 2017 and 46 per cent from 2016 when there were 463 house hunters per branch. 

Sales to FTBs

• FTBs took advantage of reduced competition in the market last month; as demand fell, sales to the group increased, hitting a seven-month high of 30 per cent
• The last time FTBs experienced this rate of sales was July 2018 when they benefited from the annual summer lull
• Month-on-month, this figure has increased by four percentage points from 26 per cent in January

Supply of available properties

• The supply of available housing fell from an average of 36 properties per member branch in January to 34 in February
• This figure has not moved significantly from February 2018 when there were 35 properties available to buy per branch.

Sales agreed

• The number of sales agreed rose in January, and remained high in February, with seven recorded per branch
• Year-on-year, this fell slightly from eight in February 2018