The number of estate agents not advertising property for sale is increasing and starting to become more widespread, according to residential market specialists TwentyCI.

And despite the lack of listing those agents keeping properties off the market are still achieving over the asking price and selling quickly.

“If you look at the volume of available properties for sale right now for £200,000 or less, this has halved since pre-pandemic,” says TwentyCI. “As such, the best agents will already have several buyers lined up, especially for properties at the cheapest prices in areas where demand is hot.”

According to TwentyCI’s research across Great Britain in the last quarter there was a 2.4% increase in properties selling but not advertised – some 4,650 properties.

REGIONAL VARIATIONS

Across both inner and outer London, the percentage increase in non-advertised properties is high, equating to an additional 4,200 properties now not being advertised but are being sold over the course of a year.

Other places where this appears to be a more common practice are the West Midlands, the East Midlands and Yorkshire.

In the West Midlands alone, there is an additional 4,100 properties now not being advertised, but are being sold, over the course of a year. In the East Midlands, this figure is 3,000, and in Yorkshire, 2,650.

In the West Midlands alone, there is an additional 4,100 properties now not being advertised, but are being sold.”

TwentyCI says: “If stock levels fall even further, and/or selling prices rise when compared to asking prices, then we might well experience higher volumes of non-advertised properties that are for sale.

“Our view is that emergence of non-advertised properties is not a temporary phenomenon, moreover, it is one that is entirely dependent on future market dynamics. The higher the underlying demand for property is, the less likely we are to see properties advertised for sale.”

SCOTLAND

Elsewhere… The number of properties advertised for sale in Scotland has nearly halved over the last two years according to DJ Alexander, the largest estate and letting agents in Scotland.

The volume of properties advertised for sale in Scotland’s cities has fallen between 16% and 52% since the recent peak in the Autumn of 2020.

Dundee has had the largest fall with 52% fewer properties advertised in August 2022 compared to November 2020 while Aberdeen had the lowest drop decreasing by just 16% over the same period.

David Alexander, chief executive of DJ Alexander, says: “It is clear that the market is running out of steam although, ironically, this significant reduction in volumes could temporarily maintain prices for a few more months as more buyers seek fewer properties.”

“We are now facing a downturn in the market and prices are likely to fall in the coming months. Not substantially but certainly we will not be experiencing anything like the lift in prices that we have witnessed over the last two years. This is a good thing as markets cannot sustain long-term continuous rises without the possibility of a future crash.”