Home sales up, but World Cup Fever already reducing sellers

National trends

• Number of home sales agreed (gross sales) rises strongly, up 11% in May compared to April this year and up 13% compared to May 2005.
• Supply of property on the market falls because: a) fewer sellers are putting their properties up for sale and b) properties already on the market are being sold.
• Number of buyers looking for property remains very high (see Chart 2). Although new buyer registrations have tailed off, a large number of those who began their search for property in February, March and April are still looking. This means more competition for property.
• The number of viewings per property rose 15% averaging from 2.9 to 3.4 between the first five months of 2006 compared to the same period in 2005, suggesting buyers are working harder to find a property.
• The number of sales falling through in May rose 9% while sales rose 13% (see Chart 4). This further indicates that buyers are more serious about securing their new homes.

David Newnes, Managing Director of Your Move Estate Agent, said, “There is a new wave of confidence in the market and sales in May have risen following April’s Easter holiday slump. Strong demand for houses means now is a great time to sell, but sellers have not, so far, responded by putting property on the market. Perhaps this is because World Cup fever is already keeping them glued to their TVs.

“The reduction in supply of properties on the market, means growing competition amongst buyers for homes. What’s more we believe that buyer interest is set to strengthen further now that the Bank holiday breaks are behind us.”