Supply plummets 10% across the UK - and crashes 30% in London

The listings website Home, which conducts a monthly survey of asking prices and wider market monitors, is reporting a show 10 per cent drop in new sales instructions across the UK.

The situation in London is significantly worse, with stock levels now some 24 per cent lower than a year ago and new instructions in October this year a full 30 per cent fewer than in October 2018.

The website blames the “Brexit malaise” for the fall in activity, saying only the North West and Yorkshire regions have so far been spared a supply drought.

The consequence, of course, is that the shortage of supply is bolstering prices, which have seen a short-term drop of only 0.3 per cent but are over the longer term holding relatively steady.

Home says its Typical Time on Market Measurement for England and Wales, now at 93 days, is seven days longer now than in November 2018.

It says the East of England remains the UK’s worst-performing region with prices continuing an extended correction; the average asking price is down by 2.2 per cent over the last 12 months.

The latest Home market snapshot says: “Across the UK, home prices are holding remarkably steady overall despite Brexit fears, as the supply drop serves to further support values (and limit the impact of price corrections in post-boom regions like East of England). 

“Of course, the regional level presents a more mixed picture. Modest but positive growth is still present (albeit waning) in the recently booming northern and western regions (especially Wales) whilst, by contrast, the East of England remains in the grip of a price correction. The South East has also yet to exit a period of negative growth but rising rents and limited sales supply both indicate that this region will soon follow London on the road to recovery.

“Meanwhile, the East and West Midlands property markets are heading into a period of much slower growth. Price corrections look a distinct possibility next year in these regions, although should supply continue to fall, as per London, the damage to home values will be attenuated.”

The index used by Home is calculated every month using around 500,000 UK property house prices listed for sale: it says this figure represents the majority of residential property for sale on the open market in the UK at any given time.