What’s happening to supply and demand in the property market?
Property market expert, Kate Faulkner, says listings are high and transaction volumes are healthy, but time on market is rising.
As the latest charts show from Chris Watkin and Twenty EA, listings are at the highest we’ve seen in the UK property market since they were tracking them back as far as 2017, so a decade ago.
This is translating into fairly healthy sales too, but we can see that this year it’s behind 2021, 2022 and 2025. However, its worth remembering that the first quarter of 2025 was dominated by sales being pushed through to meet the end of the SDLT holiday so year on year comparisons until April will be skewed.
Historically, we can see that January’s sales are very much within the norm, with higher levels than we saw from 2008 to 2014, when the credit crunch hit and pretty much on a par with January 2025 transaction levels.
Over time, the huge peaks and troughs – which the information from HMRC shows – was mostly caused by issues external to the property market.
This included SDLT reductions or holidays, the pandemic and changes to taxation of higher rates in 2016.
History of property market transaction changes
– There was a large peak in transactions in March 2025 and a subsequent drop in April 2025 caused by transactions brought forward ahead of the SDLT threshold reductions from 1 April 2025.
– There were large peaks in transactions during March, June, and September 2021 caused by increased numbers of taxpayers taking advantage of temporarily increased nil rate bands of SDLT, LBTT, and LTT.
– There was a substantial decrease in transactions during quarter 2 of 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
– There was a large peak in March 2016 caused by increased amounts of taxpayers completing before the introduction of higher rates for additional residential properties from April 2016.
– There was an unseasonal peak in December 2009 caused by the ending of a temporarily increased nil rate band for residential transactions.
– The fall in transactions from late 2007 coincided with the financial crisis, before which transactions had increased steadily before peaking in mid 2006.
Summary of the latest supply and demand data
“2026 has started with a strong rebound in housing market activity. This is driven by the lowest mortgage rates in 4 years and improved access to mortgages, particularly for first-time buyers.
“The number of agreed sales has increased sharply, but remains 3% below the very strong start to 2025. Sales are currently running at the fourth strongest February level in the past decade, even though there are 8% fewer buyers in the market than a year ago.”
Surge in sellers coming to the market
“One clear trend in February 2026 is a surge in the number of sellers bringing their homes to the market.
“February is on track to record the highest monthly number of new listings in a decade, reflecting improving seller confidence and a strong desire to move home.
“There are already 6% more homes for sale than a year ago, and this is expected to rise further in the coming months. This increased supply boosts choice for buyers and will keep house price growth in check over 2026.”
We are seeing time on the market rising as buyers are not in a rush to purchase, especially as new properties are coming on the market every week (in most areas) and I’m also noticing that some properties are just really struggling to sell, which is also contributing to lengthening the ‘average’ time it takes to secure a buyer.
“The chart [below] shows the average of the number of homes per agent across the UK. The number of homes for sale is now at an 11-year high for this time of year.”
“Here we can see the monthly average number of days it takes for a seller to secure a buyer in the UK. In January 2026 this was 81 days, compared with 59 days in April and May of 2025.”
