Propertymark’s latest housing insight report reveals a ‘welcome drop’ in housing transactions that take over 17 weeks, with just 32% of the agents surveyed reporting transactions that pass the 17 week mark.
The report, which is based on responses to a monthly survey of Propertymark member agents, notes that the figure indicates a trend towards to greater efficiency, having fallen from a high of 41% in July 2022. However, MoveiQ founder Phil Spencer said it is ‘crucial’ to bring down the times further. He commented:
“Transaction times when buying a home have historically increased to unrealistic levels.
“The implications can be extremely stressful and costly; therefore, it’s crucial that we see well thought out and effective changes throughout the home buying and selling process to bring the average time for completion down.”
Reports of April market activity were slightly less positive, with slight dips in prospective buyer registrations, viewing numbers, sales agreed and sales volume data –which Propertymark attributes to the ongoing impact of stamp duty changes.
New supply remained static, with around 13.6 homes placed for sale per member branch, as did stock levels, with an average of 42 properties for sale at each member branch.
The number of market appraisals – an indicator of future supply – was up by three on the previous month, to an average of 27 per member branch.
‘As the new Stamp Duty thresholds were introduced from April across England and Northern Ireland, it’s inevitable that a slowing in the pace of the market was to be noted,’ said Propertymark CEO Nathan Emerson.
“However, other factors such as improved mortgage deals from lenders, an ongoing steady stream in the number of mortgage approvals and borrowing, as well as continued appetite and confidence from home movers, are all hugely positive signs that the housing market remains resilient amongst economic uncertainty.”
See the full report at https://www.propertymark.co.uk/resource/housing-insight-report-april-2025.html
