1,516,000 new buyers registered with UK estate agents in July, a record high for over two years. While the majority of these are existing home owners, these property buyers are refusing to put their own property on the market.
Only 633,000 properties are currently on the market in the UK, a figure that has remained broadly stable since the beginning of the year. Buyers are out numbering sellers by over 2.5 to 1.
David Newnes, managing director of Your Move Estate Agents, said: “While the number of active buyers has reached a record high, a reluctance to put their own properties onto 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.
“Home buyers are mainly focusing on securing a new home before putting their own on the market. They are concentrating on what they believe to be the more difficult task in the present supply starved market. This however, exacerbates the continuing shortage of houses on the market. If buyers were to put their home on the market at the same time as looking for a property to buy, this vicious catch 22 situation would reduce significantly.”
Reflecting the relative shortage of properties for sale is the increase in viewing per property which, at an average of 3.2 in July, up 23 per cent on the same month last year.
While gross sales were higher than last year the shortage of supply has prevented growth in recent months. Meanwhile, fall throughs of previously agreed sales remained high at 26 per cent, a reflection of the inefficiencies of the current house buying process."
Newnes added: “Fall throughs are typically a result of wavering sellers withdrawing after initially agreeing to an offer and nervous buyers pulling out after finding out the cost implications of essential property repairs.
“The original Home Information Packs (HIPs) would have at least helped reduce the number of ‘dip your toe in the pond’ sellers and give buyers detailed upfront condition reports resulting in far less fall throughs than present.
“The government’s U-Turn on the Home Condition Report has left us with a half-baked HIP which is all but worthless. It does not help either buyers or sellers, who are growing increasingly frustrated with the current archaic and painful home purchasing system.”
