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Supply of Homes for Sale Dropped in February, Reports Agency Express
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Following a buoyant start to the year, the supply of homes for sale dropped in February, according to the latest Property Activity Index from Agency Express.
The report reveals mixed activity across the UK property market last month.
Nationally, the number of properties sold remained true to trend, increasing by 16.9% on a monthly basis, while the amount of properties coming onto the market dropped by 0.7%.
While February’s figures for new listings were affected by January’s spike, annual data does show a greater level of activity in the market during 2018, when new listings rose by 2.7%.
Looking at the individual regions included in the index, all 12 recorded growth in the number of properties sold in February, but only five saw increases in homes coming onto the market.
Scotland sat at the top of February’s leader board, with new listings up by 24.7%, while the amount of properties sold rose by 27.7%. Although February’s figures were buoyant, historical data again shows a greater level of activity in 2018.
Other regional hotspots included:
New property listings
- Yorkshire and the Humber: +16.8%
- North West: +7.8%
- Wales: +0.4%
- East Midlands: +0.2%
Properties sold
- Yorkshire and the Humber: +23.4%
- South West: +19.7%
- North East: +18.9%
- London: +18.7%
- North West: +17.3%
- East Midlands: +15.1%
- East of England: +11.2%
The greatest decline in February’s index was in London. Following robust activity in January, new listings fell by 8.8% month-on-month and by 23.1% over a three-month rolling period. Looking back at Agency Express’ historical data, we can see that this decrease is the largest on record for the month of February.
Stephen Watson, the Managing Director of Agency Express, comments: “We typically see figures plateau in February, but the latest data from the Property Activity Index has shown a decline in supply compared to the same month in 2018. However, overall figures remain robust and year-on-year activity continues to increase for us.”
