Despite property prices not changing that much and struggling to beat inflation, transactions are looking pretty healthy at the moment, and, according to Twentyci, property listings are higher than they’ve been for nine years.

In addition, the pressure to complete before the end of SDLT holiday in England in March, has meant sales are also at a high level. Hence the second bit of good news: the increased listings, at the moment, means that completions have reached the third highest levels in the last nine years.

However, it’s important to be aware that speaking to legal companies, they were closing nearly twice as many sales as they would normally do, while buyers, agents, legal companies and removers desperately tried to move as many people as possible before the end of March. As such, it’s likely that April or May could end up being the quietest months this year.

Hopefully though, if mortgage rates do fall in May as predicted and particularly if they fall again as latest forecasts suggest, then this could boost demand and enable more sales to go through this year.

Supply and demand data from the indices

Rightmove

“However, new Spring sellers may find it more challenging this year, as they are competing against a decade-high number of other sellers. New Spring buyers on the other hand, are looking at the best choice of properties for sale at this time of year since 2015. This is some consolation for these new buyers who won’t benefit from the current additional stamp duty savings in England, and who face higher tax charges from April.”

Halifax

“House prices rose in January as buyers rushed to beat the March stamp duty deadline. However, with those deals now completing, demand is returning to normal and new applications slowing. Our customers completed more house sales in March than in January and February combined, including  the busiest single day on record. Following this burst of activity, house prices, which remain near record highs, unsurprisingly fell back last month.

“Looking ahead, potential buyers still face challenges from the new normal of higher borrowing costs, a limited supply of available properties to choose from, and an uncertain economic outlook. However, with further base rate cuts anticipated alongside positive wage growth, mortgage affordability should continue to improve gradually, and therefore we still expect a modest rise in house prices this year.”

Zoopla  

“The number of homes for sale is growing faster than the number of sales being agreed, boosting choice for buyers and re-enforcing a buyers’ market. While house price inflation is slowing, the number of sales agreed continues to increase, up 5% on a year ago, with demand 10% higher.

The number of homes for sale is 11% higher than this time last year, and set to keep rising.”

“The number of homes for sale is 11% higher than this time last year, and set to keep rising as we enter the spring selling period. Almost 30% of homes are listed for sale between March and May each year.”

Propertymark

“On average, there were 10.7 homes placed for sale per member branch in February 2025, up from 10.5 the month previous.” “Stock levels reflect the average number of properties available for sale at each member branch. In February 2025, stock levels were marginally down month-on-month with an average of 41 properties for sale at each member branch, compared with 43 the previous month.”

“The average number of sales agreed per member branch in February 2025 remained static, compared to January 2025. It does however represent a stronger start to the year, when compared directly to the previous three years.”