Surge in for sale stock levels as sellers look to capitalise on improving market conditions
The latest research by eXp UK, the platform for personal estate agents & estate agency businesses, has revealed that for sale stock levels are up 9.2% across the property market in England during the first quarter of 2024, with available stock also sitting 15.6% higher than this time last year, demonstrating that the nation’s sellers are returning to the fold, keen to capitalise on improving market conditions.
eXp UK analysed the number of homes listed for sale across each county in England and how this level of for sale stock compares both to the previous quarter and annually*.
The figures show that total listings climbed by 9.2% between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, whilst annually, there were 15.6% more homes available for sale across the market.
This demonstrates that the nation’s agents have been able to increase the size of their for sale stock portfolios, tempting sellers back into the fold in order to take advantage of growing buyer demand and improving house prices, after a period of subdued market activity caused by higher mortgage rates.
The biggest increase in for sale stock on a quarterly basis has been seen across Rutland, with the county seeing a 19.2% increase in available homes for sale.
The City of London ranks second with a 16.3% increase, whilst Hertfordshire (+14.5%), East Sussex (+13.7%) and Herefordshire (+13.6%) also rank within the top five.
However, every single county has seen an increase in for sale stock on a quarterly basis, demonstrating the overarching opinion that the market is set to return to full health in 2024.
When it comes to the largest boosts in for sale stock levels versus Q1 of last year, Rutland (+27.5%) and Herefordshire (+24.5%) again rank highly, with Cheshire (+22%), Shropshire (+21.7%) and Derbyshire (+21.7%) also amongst the biggest increases.
As with the quarterly picture, this improvement in market health has been widespread, with just the City of Bristol home to a lower level of for sale stock when compared to Q1 2023.
Head of eXp UK, Adam Day, commented:
“Agents across the nation will have been hard at work, building a strong pipeline of for sale stock ahead of the seasonal spring surge in market activity.
However, it’s fair to say that this uplift in the number of homes listed for sale also demonstrates the improving health of the property market when compared to the more subdued landscape of last year.
With buyer appetites dented by higher mortgage rates, many sellers had chosen to sit tight with respect to their sale, particularly in the face of cooling house prices. But now that we’ve seen a consistent increase in both mortgage approval levels and house prices during the start of this year, they are rapidly returning to capitalise on these returning market conditions.”
