"With a potential rate cut on the horizon, the likelihood is that buyer market activity will only increase as the year plays out and this presents a great opportunity for agents to capitalise on this improving sentiment to the benefit of their sellers"
- Colby Short - GetAgent
New market analysis by GetAgent has revealed that buyer demand levels climbed significantly between the first and second quarters of this year, marking the largest quarter-to-quarter jump since interest rates started to climb in December 2021 and the third consecutive quarter of positive growth.
GetAgent’s Hotspots Demand Index monitors homebuyer demand across England on a quarterly basis. Current demand is based on the proportion of stock listed as already sold (sold subject to contract or under offer) as a percentage of all stock listed for sale. E.g, if 100 homes are listed and 50 are already sold, the demand score would be 50%.
National Picture
In Q4 2021, buyer demand stood at 65.6%, however, as interest rates started to climb, GetAgent recorded five consecutive months of declining demand. But with the market now turning a corner, GetAgent’s Hotspots Demand Index has now noted three consecutive quarters of positive growth where buyer demand levels are concerned.
The latest index shows that 44.2% of all homes listed for sale across England had found a buyer in Q2 of this year. This marks a +2% increase in buyer demand levels when compared to Q1 2024, the largest quarterly increase seen since interest rates first started to increase in Q4 2021.
Quarterly increases
Nowhere more so has demand increased over the last quarter than across Northumberland, with a +5.4% increase.
South Yorkshire has also seen a considerable increase at +4.2%, with Bedfordshire (+4%), Leicestershire (+4%) and Northampton (+3.8%) also ranking within the top five largest quarterly increases.
Annual picture
Annually, national demand remains down marginally versus this time last year at -0.4%. However, a number of areas have also posted strong annual improvements.
Bedfordshire has seen the largest annual increase in buyer demand, up 5.4%, followed by London (+5.2%), Northamptonshire (+2.7%), Essex (+2.2%) and Leicestershire (+1.8%).
Co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented: “We’ve seen numerous industry indicators suggest that the property market is very much on the up in 2024 and our latest buyer demand index further supports the narrative that buyers are returning to the fold, reassured by the market stability that has come from a hold on the base rate since last September.
"With a potential rate cut on the horizon, the likelihood is that buyer market activity will only increase as the year plays out and this presents a great opportunity for agents to capitalise on this improving sentiment to the benefit of their sellers.
"Appropriate pricing for current market conditions remains one of the biggest challenges facing agents. Although buyer interest is building, they remain restricted by higher borrowing costs and it’s the job of the nation’s agents to manage seller expectations to prevent them from getting ahead of themselves and setting unrealistic asking prices.
"In doing so they will play a pivotal role in the returning health of the housing market in the mid to long-term."
