Housing supply doubles in January after seasonal slump

Property supply increased in every town and city in January, and more than a quarter (27.1%) of UK towns and cities experienced an increase in supply of 100% or more in January compared to December.

Lichfield saw listings rise more than threefold (268%), while in Edinburgh and Hastings supply was up 173% and 169% respectively.

In London, supply was up 121.7% in January, while the boroughs of Redbridge and Bromley saw the most significant increase in new listings last month, up 216.5% and 184.5% respectively. Barking & Dagenham saw the smallest rise in property supply, with the number of new listings up 66% in the borough last month.

Alex Gosling, CEO of HouseSimple, commented: “We expected to see property supply rise in January, and it will be a relief that numbers have jumped because there were concerns that sellers, jaded by Brexit talk, might be slow to market in January. Although the numbers of new properties listed wasn’t through the roof, they were higher than November and only a little lower than October, so supply returned to pre- Christmas levels.

“We are now coming into peak-time for property sales, the pre-spring and spring market. The black cloud of Article 50 looms overhead and no-one really knows if that will see sellers delay marketing their properties. But if the market’s response to the Brexit vote is anything to go by, the urge or need to move will mean it’s very much business as usual.”