Strongest spring sellers’ market in the past decade
Rightmove's Monthly House Index was released this morning reporting the greatest excess of demand over supply over the past ten years, is pushing up the average price of property coming to market by 0.8% (+£2,484) this month (March)
- Number of potential buyers enquiring about each available property in the month is at a record, and is 34% higher than the same period a year ago, which was itself an active market before the first lockdown
- With sales already agreed for almost two out of three properties on agents’ books, buyers eagerly await fresh choice coming to market, making this the best sellers’ market of the past ten years
- Start of traditional spring selling period sees number of sales agreed for the first week in March up by 12% on prior year despite shortage of available stock
- Daily average of over seven million visits to Rightmove in February, 40% up on February 2020
Early signs that more owners are now deciding to market their properties, spurred by incentives and lockdown easing:
- New listing numbers see building momentum in weekly run-rate, only 5% down during the first week of March compared to 20% down for the month of February
The tighter lending criteria put in place in 2014 will help to moderate the pace of price rises, but a sustained rise in fresh supply would also be a tempering factor
Source: Rightmove