According to research from TwentyEA, there is a strong sense of optimism in the property market, despite the looming General Election on July 4.
Market activity has been resilient since the election was announced on May 22, while also remaining higher in terms of demand and supply compared to last year.
TwentyEA compared data from May 23 to June 5 and found there was a 9% rise in the number of sold subject to contracts (SSTCs), rising from 46,802 and 51,025 compared to the same period in 2023.
There has also been a rise in the supply of new instructions – rising 3.4% from 67,753 in 2023 to 70,049 this year. Both the demand and supply metrics are more aligned with the same 14 days in 2019 – the last normal market prior to the pandemic.
TwentyEA executive director Katy Billany said: “With activity remaining steady despite the upcoming election, the market is looking pretty upbeat and is comparable with 2019, the period prior to the pandemic.
The supply of new instructions rose by 13% compared with the same period in 2023 and 5% in 2019. This saw the supply of new instructions for the first five months of 2024 reach a six-year high of 763,651.
Demand (the number of SSTCs) increased 17% from 2023 to 529,172, growing 5.5% from 2019.
Between January and May 2024, the supply/demand ratio was 68.3%, marking a small increase on last year’s 67.1%, while aligning with the 69% recorded in 2019.
“There’s a healthy balance in the number of deals being struck compared with the volume of new instructions coming to market.
“Since the start of the year to the end of May, there was a 17.2% rise in the number of price changes compared with last year, but this was most likely a sign of sellers becoming more realistic that the frenzied markets of 2021 and 2022 were firmly behind us.
She added: “Fall throughs increased by 11.5% since 2023 and we believe this is closely linked to affordability issues such as the rise in mortgage rates, which have given some buyers cold feet or left them with a change of circumstances. As rates come down, stability will gather pace.”
