Despite recent talk of an impending slowdown in the property market, figures reported to Propertymark for May appear to show the buoyant market continues.
But the professional body for estate and letting agents, commercial agents, auctioneers, valuers, and inventory providers cautioned that this could be a result, lengthy waiting times from offer to exchange remain.
Homes available to buy
Competition remained high in April with 78% of respondents telling Propertymark that most sales in May were agreed at or above the original asking price.
The average number of new potential buyers registering at each member branch remained high at 90.
Sales agreed
There were nine sales agreed on average per member branch in May – the same number as in April.
This figure is also in line with the pre-pandemic average for May of nine (based on 2010-2019 figures).
With such high demand, sales could be higher but Propertymark said the lack of supply appears to be keeping the total sales figures in check.
Time to exchange
67% of respondents said the average time from offer accepted to exchanging contracts in May was 13 weeks or more.
This compares to a 2019 average of only 52%.
Nathan Emerson, CEO Propertymark, said: “Despite a continued rise in the cost of living, interest rate rises, and the average price of a home in the UK falling just shy of £300,000, agents continue to report a strong, stable market.
“Due to other potential interest rate rises in the future, buyers are snapping up properties quickly and taking advantage of current mortgage rates.
“We expect these pressures to start to slow the housing market down but there are no signs of that happening any time soon.”
