"The Christmas period is a traditionally quiet period for the property market, certainly when it comes to new sales, but there are many benefits to listing your home at this time of year"
- Adam Day - eXp UK
eXp UK analysed the number of homes to have been listed for sale in the last 14 days and how this influx of for-sale stock compares to the start of the year (January 2023).
The research shows that, according to Rightmove, there are a total of 697,525 homes currently listed for sale across Britain - 10% more when compared to January of this year.
Of these, 67,227 have been listed for sale in the last two weeks alone, a 46% increase when compared to the 46,092 sellers that entered the market at the start of the year.
In fact, every area of Britain has seen an increase in the number of sellers returning to the market ahead of the Christmas period.
Scotland has seen the largest increase, with 3,465 homes listed over the last two weeks, a 195% increase in new for-sale stock versus January.
The North East and North West have also seen a notable uplift in new sellers entering the market, up 114% and 112% respectively when compared to the start of the year.
Yorkshire and the Humber (+87%) and London (+69%) also rank within the top five largest uplifts in fresh-for-sale stock.
The East of England has seen the smallest increase in new homes hitting the market, but even still, 22% more homes have been listed for sale in the last 14 days versus the start of the year.
The South East has also seen one of the smallest increases at 31%, however, the region has seen the largest increase in terms of the number of new homes listed for sale at 10,798, followed by London (9,066).
Head of eXp UK, Adam Day, commented: “The Christmas period is a traditionally quiet period for the property market, certainly when it comes to new sales, but there are many benefits to listing your home at this time of year. The main one is that you get the admin out of the way and you’re ready to hit the ground running in the new year when buyers return from their festive hiatus.
"Listing now also helps you get ahead of the competition and make the most of the Boxing Day bounce in traffic from prospective buyers so it’s no surprise that there has been a surge in seller activity in the last few weeks.
"Although we’ve seen cooler market conditions materialise in recent months, it’s clear that any fears of a market downturn have been greatly exaggerated. The nation’s sellers are now confident that the value of their home will stand firm and this is also helping to boost sentiment.”
