Published: 29/01/2020 By WD
The housing market appears to have ended 2019 on a positive note according to the National Association for Estate Agents.Its latest market data shows that in December the number of sales agreed per member branch fell, as is usually the case at Christmas, from seven in November to six.
But year-on-year however, the number of sales agreed has increased, from five sales agreed in both December 2017 and December 2018 to six last month.
Likewise the number of properties sold to first time buyers increased slightly in December 2019 to 29 per cent . A marginal increase from the 28 per cent in November 2019
This is a steady increase of 5 per cent when compared with December 2018. The number of sales to first time buyers previously was 24 per cent.
Meanwhile the number of house hunters registered per estate agent branch decreased in December 2019, falling from 332 to 313 - this is the lowest figure seen since June 2019 when there were 305 prospective buyers registered.
The annual figure is more optimistic when comparing with the previous year, housing demand is up, rising from 304 house hunters per branch in December 2018.
The number of properties available per member branch rose from 39 in November, to 41 in December. This is the highest seen since August 2019 when it stood at 44.
Year-on-year, the supply of housing is down marginally, falling from 42 in December 2018.
“After a period of suppressed market activity due to Brexit and political uncertainty, the clear outcome of the General Election in December has injected some much-needed confidence into the market” explains Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark.
“Despite it typically being a quieter time of year seasonally, our figures have shown positive trends with both demand and the number of sales being high in comparison to previous years, as both buyers and sellers no longer hold off on their plans. This is an encouraging close to the year and we hope to see more of this stability in 2020.”