According to the figures, 32% of properties sold for more than their asking price in April – the highest on record and twice as many properties than in March when 16% of properties sold for more than the original asking price.
NAEA Propertymark highlight that this is also the highest figure on record, beating the previous record of 19% in May 2014.
Demand for housing
The average number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch stood at 427 in April, which is an increase from 409 in March and also the highest figure for April since 2004 when there were 487 house hunters registered per branch.
The number of properties available per member branch stood at 27 in April, falling from 31 in March - the lowest recorded since December 2002 when 25 properties were available per branch, meaning there is an average of 16 buyers for every available property on the market.
Sales agreed
The average number of sales agreed per estate agent branch stood at 12 in April which is the same as in March. Year on year, this figure is the highest for the month of April since 2007 when the number of sales per estate agent branch stood at an average of 13. The number of sales made to FTBs stood at 27 per cent in April, which remains the same as March.
Mark Hayward, Chief Policy Advisor, Propertymark comments: “It is phenomenal to see demand for housing breaking records, as house buyers continue to fuel the post-Covid economy. However, the continued imbalance of supply and demand is a concern and has led to a strong sellers’ market with properties being snapped up quickly at high prices.
"We look forward to the much-needed rebalancing of the market, and we hope the Planning Bill outlined in the Queen’s Speech encourages the development of more housing, particularly in more affordable areas, as most of the development taking place is in areas that are unaffordable to first-time and lower-income buyers, although the Governments First Homes initiative will be a much-needed boost.”
