March sees a range of activity
More new properties are coming to the market - bringing with them new buyers and new sales, a group of estate and letting agents reported.
Propertymark’s March 2022 Housing Report showed that there were 10 new properties listed for sale per member branch, compared to only five recorded in December 2021. This figure is slightly above the eight-year pre-pandemic average, from 2012 to 2019, of nine for March.
It also found that there was an average of 10 sales agreed per member branch, up again from eight in February.
About 85% of these sales were agreed at or above asking price, the report revealed.
On the buyers’ side, the average number of new potential buyers registering at each member branch was up from 67 in February to 84 in March, returning close to the January high of 100.
The proportion of monthly sales to first time buyers stayed strong at 30% of overall sales in March. Though this is down on February’s figure of 37%, it is still above average for the post-2020 lockdown period (25%).
“Our March figures show a range of new activity as the spring market makes itself known. The number of new properties coming on to the market has increased slightly and new stock breeds new buyers and new sales,” Nathan Emerson, chief executive at Propertymark, said.
“The number of sales being agreed in March is slightly above our recorded long-term average and the uplift in properties coming to market is a trend we would hope to see continue into April and May,” Emerson continued.
