This was led by the West Midlands region which saw the number of houses coming to the market worth more than £500k increase by 33.4% compared to the same period last year.
The number of homes coming to the market within the second highest-price band of £250k to £500k increased by 9.6% and this was again led by a Midlands region. The East Midlands saw 27.3% more homes coming to the market in this higher-price range.
Across the UK, the overall number of homes coming to the market picked up again during Q1 – an increase of 6.7%. This was after seeing the first year-on-year fall last quarter (October, November and December).
Jonathan Westley, managing director of consumer information services at Experian UK & Ireland, said: “Only the Midlands and the North of the UK continued to see increases in the number of houses being listed for sale at less than £100k in Q1.
“The North East, in particular, is estimated to have benefited the most of all regions from the government’s ‘Help to Buy’ scheme, which could explain its favourable performance as sellers are tempted into the market in the hope of benefiting from rising prices.
“The Midlands, however, appears to have aligned more closely to the South of the UK with a significant increase in houses appearing in the higher-price bands.”
