Election shock hits house supply
11th July 2017

The number of homes coming onto the market dropped by 1.9% across the UK last month, a fall attributed to the surprise election result combined with ongoing Brexit fears, according to the latest Property Supply Index from online estate agent HouseSimple.com.

Of the 100 towns and cities analysed, 81% of areas saw property supply fall in June compared to May, with Dundee and Barnsley registering the biggest drops, down 48.1% and 39.3%. Of the few areas that saw a rise in new listings, Lichfield and Hartlepool registered substantial gains of 20.6% and 18.7%.

London bucked the trend, with property supply up 5.3% across the boroughs. Sutton stood out with new property listings in June up by more than half (54.1%).

Alex Gosling, CEO of HouseSimple.com, said: “The supply drought continues. The property market was hoping for a downpour of new stock in June, but the Conservatives crawling over the line failed to deliver the injection of confidence the market needed, and put paid to any chance of a late Spring bounce. Price growth has stalled, and sellers, it appears, are choosing to stay put, rather than accept marketing their properties at a lower price then they might have done a few months ago.

“Sellers maybe need a dose of reality, because price growth slowing should not be the only reason to hold-off moving. The housing market overheated and it was inevitably going to cool at some point. If sellers are waiting for prices to go up again, that could be a long wait. If anything, homeowners should see this as a good climate to sell as long as they price correctly. If prices have dropped where they live, they are likely to have dropped, possibly by even more, in the area they’re planning to buy.”