Property market has picked up pre-election, says boards firm

As the nation goes to the polls today, industry boards supplier Agency Express reports that the property market picked up in May after a slow April.

Analysis of 'For Sale' and 'Sold' boards shows that the number of boards issued by the firm increased significantly between April and May.

The number of ‘Sold’ boards increased by over 12%, while the number of ‘For Sale’ boards increased by almost 10% on a monthly basis.

Agency Express also reports that on an annual basis the number of ‘For Sale’ boards has been rising steadily. However, the number of ‘Sold’ boards has dipped year-on-year.

Looking regionally, the top performing areas last month were London and the South East.

The number of ‘For Sale’ boards jumped by almost a quarter compared to April, while ‘Sold’ boards issued increased by over 21%.

In the South East, new instructions increased by almost 24% and properties marked as sold increased by over 22%.

There was also a significant rise in the number of new listings in Scotland (28.6%) during May.

Meanwhile, the number of ‘Sold’ boards provided by Agency Express jumped by over a fifth in the North East when compared to April.

The worst performing region on a monthly basis was Wales, with 'Sold' board numbers dipping by 3.5% and ‘For Sale’ boards issued growing by just 0.9%.

“During May we traditionally see a slower pace throughout the UK property market and with [today’s] General Election, a slowdown on some level was anticipated,” says Agency Express managing director Stephen Watson.

He says that May’s figures exceeded his expectations and that activity was more robust when compared with analysis from 2015.

“Looking forward, we won’t see the full impact of the General Election until June’s figures are collated, so it will be interesting to see if and how the usual trends of the market are affected,” adds Watson.

The full analysis from Agency Express - which recently won the Supplier of the Year award at the ESTAS - can be viewed here.