Figures released by the property portal Zoopla has shown that in the first 15 weeks of 2021, £149bn worth of properties have sold, double the value in the same period as the last two years.
To attain this figure, the portal revealed that one in every 50 homes was sold between 1st January and 15th April 2021, with the market not usually seeing the same amount of activity until the end of June.
The property frenzy has fuelled a supply and demand problem, with an estate agent in Wales providing provisions for would be buyers who camped out overnight to secure a property when they came to market.
However, this supply problem is set to ease, with Zoopla commenting:
“Evidence suggest that listings started to rise in line with when schools reopened six weeks ago; for many families, bringing a property to market was easier once home-schooling came to an end.”
Grainne Gilmore, head of research at Zoopla, comments:
“The imbalance between supply and demand, which is creating a very tight market for family homes, will start to ease in the near term as homeowners become increasingly comfortable opening their homes to viewings, in turn building supply of new stock. The scale of buyer demand will also moderate from the peaks seen after Easter as lockdowns end across the country and there is some return to pre-pandemic ‘normality’.
“However, the fundamental imbalance will remain. Demand will remain strong as the ‘search for space’ among homeowners has further to run, especially as some office-based businesses are now confirming how their working practices will change in the longer-term. With appetite strong, homeowners thinking of selling should check My Home for a house price estimate and see if it’s time to sell.
“More flexible working arrangements open up new opportunities for homeowners to move to a further-flung location. At the same time, the roll-out of the 95% mortgage guarantee will mean more demand from first-time buyers, fuelling demand without replenishing supply.”
