Supply dips but housing market stronger than expected say agents

The National Association of Estate Agents says that  both demand and particularly supply have dipped in the past month - but overall the market remains stronger than expected given the ongoing economic and political uncertainties.

The latest report from the NAEA, applying to June, says the number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch fell slightly from 307 to 305, but despite this the number of prospective buyers remains high for the year.

There’s very little difference from the position 12 months ago, whewhen there was an average of 308 house hunters per branch. 

Meanwhile the number of properties available per member branch dropped in June, from 41 in May to 37; this compares to 39 properties available to buy in June 2018.

The number of sales agreed per NAEA member branch remained at nine in June, the same level for the second month running, and the number of sales made to first time buyers in June decreased, falling from 26 per cent in May this year to 23 per cent in June.

“Although we’ve seen a slight drop in supply and demand, the housing market is still stronger than expected, showing signs of resilience amid political uncertainty. The warmer months

can often result in the market quietening down, but we’re not yet experiencing this just yet as demand remains high for the year” explains Mark Hayward, NAEA Propertymark’s chief executive. 

“We’ll need to see if this trend continues over the next few months before we can conclusively say that confidence in the market has returned.”