January sees a jump in new homes coming onto market

January saw an upturn in properties coming on to the market following a predictably quiet end to 2018.

The new Property Supply Index from Housesimple saw an overall rise of 64% compared to December, with 52,207 homes newly-listed in the run-up to Christmas. The London market also saw a significant hike, with 21,677 in the capital representing a 70% improvement on December.

Housesimple’s Property Supply Index analyses the number of new properties listed each month by estate agents across more than 100 major UK towns and cities. Their CEO Sam Mitchell takes a positive view of the figures, saying prospective buyers have not been totally put off by the protracted wrangling over Brexit.

“We would normally expect to see activity pick up in the New Year, but no-one was quite sure how sellers and buyers would react to the amplified Brexit uncertainty in January.”

“In the end, it proved to be a busy month for sellers in particular, and even with the distraction of the Commons vote mid-month, homeowners were keen to make up for lost time.”

Town/City	Region	% increase in new listings in January 2019 vs December 2018
Hastings	South East	212.1
Southend-On-Sea	East	191.7
Torquay	South West	178.3
Guildford	South East	158.8
Ipswich	East	138.6
Shrewsbury	West Midlands	121.1
Southport	North West	117.7
Chesterfield	East Midlands	117.5
Halifax	West Yorkshire	116.7
Colchester	East	113.7

Housesimple

“We are seeing a ‘life goes on’ attitude amongst homeowners, and many view the current political climate as an opportunity to market and secure a sale while there is less competition around.

“It’ll be interesting to see how the next few months pans out. If the odds improve on a Brexit deal, we could see a cavalry charge of sellers putting their homes on the market.

“What we won’t necessarily see is an immediate surge in buyers, and savvy sellers may see this period of Brexit limbo as the perfect opportunity to market and have the pick of the buyers out there.”