Housing stock running dry triggers market slowdown, new data suggests
Homes changing hands has drastically slowed since the beginning of the year, with the market running dry of properties, according to the latest data.
The number of properties up for sale has plunged a third, compared to stock levels available before the pandemic, research by Savills and data analyst TwentyCi has found.
The UK’s property market has been gripped by a deal-making frenzy over the past two years, as the pandemic pushed many to take the leap.
However, demand for housing is so high, that if homes continue to sell at the current rate, around 65 per cent of local authority areas will run out of properties in three months or less, The Times first reported.
“It’s this supply-demand imbalance which means we are continuing to see price growth reported despite a more challenging economic backdrop,” explained Lucian Cook, head of UK residential research at Savills.
While analysts had pegged the slowdown in residential transactions to signal a market returning to stability, the new research suggests that people are deciding to stay put in their properties amid spiralling prices.
Residential transactions for March have sunk more than a third in comparison with the same month last year, according to the government’s latest figures yesterday.
Halifax, which compiles an eagerly awaited house price index, revealed a steep £43,577 increase in the price of home in just two years after the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown – taking the average price of a property to a record £282,753.