What crisis? Supply of homes for sale highest in four years

New research from TwentyEA shows that the volume of new instructions in 2023 to date is 4% higher than 2022 and only 6% lower than the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

Also, while volumes of sales agreed are down 17% on last year, there are signs that demand for homes is now improving after reaching an all-time low in February 2023.

Although demand in the first five months of 2023 was still 7.5% lower than 2019 there is now a much better balance between supply and demand than the unsustainable situation witnessed during 2021.

Homes demand

All regions have seen a drop in demand for homes, with Scotland significantly less affected than the rest of the UK, with a reduction of only 0.3%, followed by Northern Ireland (10.4%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (14.9%).

Katy Billany, Executive Director of TwentyEA, says: “Our research reveals that the regions experiencing the largest increase in supply are the South West (10%), East Midlands (8%) and Wales (6%).

“Supply volumes have declined in Northern Ireland (16% down) and Inner London (3% down).

“The good news is that availability of stock has increased, with over 60,000 properties available in May 2023, just 9% less to buy than there were in 2019.”

And she adds: “Available stock has increased at every price bracket since a year ago.

“In the price brackets (£350k+), there is more choice for buyers now than there was pre-pandemic, with £1m+ available properties increasing by 37% since 2020.

ACUTE SHORTAGE

“But while the stock shortage is over for properties over £350k, it is still acute for the lower priced segment.

“For buyers in inner London, there are over 12% more properties available than in 2019.

“Available stock is roughly the same in the Midlands, while the North East and the South as seen reductions on stock levels.”