Estate agents report increases in the number of new properties coming to market, more prospective buyer registrations and viewings after the pre-Christmas lull, all of which point to positivity remaining in the property market beyond the SDLT deadline at the end of March.
The latest Propertymark Housing Insight Report, is based on a survey of members, identifies there were 10.5 homes placed for sale per member branch on average in January 2025, returning to October 2024 numbers after a pre-Christmas fall to around 8 per member branch. The strength of new sales, which saw a positive increase year on year at around 9 sales agreed per member branch (between 6 and 7 in previous years) has resulted in a slight fall in overall branch stock, down to 43 properties from 46 in December 2024.
But the report suggests activity in the market is still lively. A seasonal jump in market viewings to similar seen during Q2 2024, despite many home movers being unlikely to complete before the end of March SDLT deadline, indicates the market will remain buoyant in April and beyond.
Propertymark also track sentiment around the number of agents reporting the average time from offer acceptance to exchange. With 17 weeks the benchmark, around one in three agents are currently seeing transactions take longer, down from a high of nearly 40% for much of 2024.
Commenting on the latest report CEO of Propertymark Nathan Emerson said
“As widely expected, January 2025 saw an uplift in activity in the sales market due mainly to the Stamp Duty thresholds changing, requiring many homeowners completing from April onwards to pay more tax in England and Northern Ireland. It will be interesting to see how the dust settles within the sales market as we move closer to that deadline. Indeed, we are likely to witness this spike in activity tail off. However, people continue to adapt to market conditions, and for those who are factoring in this additional cost, their home move plans may remain unchanged.
“For the private rental market, pressures remain, and the age-old story continues of demand levels increasing against a slowing backdrop of supply. We know that without government support for landlords to continue in the market or for future investors to enter, many may take their investment capability elsewhere or sell up altogether, worsening the ever-widening gap and ultimately pushing up rents even further.”
