Sellers are bringing more properties to the market, according to property listing website
With house price growth showing signs of slowing down, property sellers are bringing more properties to the market this summer in an attempt to take advantage of record asking prices.
New data from property listing website Rightmove has revealed signs of the property supply shortage starting to ease slightly as the number of requests from prospective sellers for an estate agent to value their home is at its highest level since the start of the year.
Home valuation requests to estate agents were at their highest in the week beginning June 20 and are almost a quarter (24%) higher than the same week last year.
Rightmove recorded June 22 as the fourth busiest day on record for requests to estate agents to value a home and the highest single day for valuation requests since May 2021.
It added that the number of new properties for sale is up by 14% over the past two weeks, compared to the same two weeks last year.
The high demand and low supply of properties has supported house price growth amid rising interest rates and costs of living.
“In recent months, we have reported a slight easing of the market and the pace of price growth compared to the exceptional levels of last year, and now we are seeing signs of some of the pressure on stock easing too,” Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove, said.
Read more: UK housing market – is it about to hit the brakes?
“New instructions to agents are up 14% in the last two weeks compared to last year, which will be welcome news for buyers wanting more choice, and the high number of valuation requests we’ve recorded is a positive sign of more potential choice to come.”
David Hannah, group chairman of property tax adviser Cornerstone Tax, said that if more properties do enter the UK housing market, a more manageable supply and demand level will be seen and subsequently halt the rapid rise of property prices.
“There are signs of an increased supply in the UK property market with figures showing a rise in new listings in the UK, which will ultimately be crucial to continue the slowdown of property prices in the UK,” Hannah added.
However, Bannister stressed that there is still more demand than supply, and the property market remains very active.
“For those planning a move, it’s important that they give themselves the best chance of success by getting their property on the market if they have a home to sell,” he advised.
Rightmove’s data also showed that the time to find a property buyer is at a near-record low of 32 days, but some sellers are not immediately bringing their property to the market.
Read more: Revealed – how many homes selling within two weeks of hitting the market.
“Our insights from prospective sellers show some delay putting their home on the market, because they think it’s more important to find a new property that they like first, or they are worried about finding a buyer for their current home before they’ve found their next one,” Bannister shared.
“Agents point out this puts them in a less strong position to move quickly in a busy market, where they are competing against other home movers who may have already have found a buyer for their home or don’t have a property to sell.”
Meanwhile, Rightmove also shared insights from over 2,500 prospective sellers that reveal current attitudes and behaviours towards the housing market.
When choosing an agent to sell their property, the findings show that prospective sellers value agents being responsive (87%), presenting their properties professionally in advertising (86%), and being knowledgeable about local markets (84%) more than having the lowest fees (32%) or providing the highest valuation (21%) for their home.
