Findings from the estate agency revealed that while the vast majority of the 1,516,000 people who registered their details were homeowners, many remained reluctant to put their own homes up for sale.
Only 633,000 properties are currently on the market in the UK, the report said, a figure that has remained steady since the turn of the year. Currently, buyers are outnumbering sellers by over 2.5 to one.
The report warned that while gross sales are higher than last year, the shortage of supply has prevented growth in recent months. In addition, fall-throughs of previously agreed sales stayed very high at 26 per cent – a reflection of the inefficiencies of the current house buying process, the study added.
Commenting, David Newnes, managing director at Your Move, said: “While the number of active buyers has reached a record high, a reluctance to put their own properties on the market has resulted in an acute shortage of supply. With too many buyers chasing too few sellers, the pressure for property prices to rise further will only intensify.”
Newnes added that homebuyers are treading with caution by focusing on securing a new home before putting their own on the market. He continued: “Homebuyers are concentrating on what they believe to be the more difficult task in the present supply-starved market. However, this exacerbates the continuing shortage of houses on the market.”
Jonathan Cornell, director at Hamptons International Mortgages, agreed demand far outweighs supply. He said: “In certain locations, particularly in London and the surrounding areas, there are more buyers than sellers and this has resulted in property prices being pushed up. However, the Bank of England Base Rate increase will probably deter many property buyers which should normalise the market.”
