Estate agents have reported a significant fall in demand for housing in April, with the number of house-hunters registered per branch at the lowest level since March 2014, according to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) April Housing Market report.
There were 325 house hunters registered per member branch on average last month – the lowest number recorded since March 2014, when there were 313 house buyers recorded at each estate agent branch. This means demand has fall by 22% from 417 in March.
Last month, the supply of houses available for buyers also fell by 35% from 54 properties available in March, to 35 in April.
26% of the total sales made in April were to first-time buyers, a decrease of two percentage points from March. However, 33% of estate agents expects sales to the group to increase following the buy-to-let stamp duty changes, as buy-to-let landlords exit the market, potentially freeing up properties for first-time buyers.
24% of estate agents expect house prices to decrease and a further 23% expect demand to decrease if Britain votes to leave the EU in June. The recent NAEA and ARLA Brexit report revealed that by 2018, a Brexit would reduce the average UK house price by £2,300 to £300,900. However, if Britain remains in the EU, the average UK home could cost £303,000 by 2018.
Mark Hayward, managing director, National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), said: “It’s no surprise that demand dropped significantly in April. Eight in ten (80%) agents saw an increase in purchasers trying to beat the buy-to-let stamp duty changes before the April 1st deadline, so we expected to see a slow-down immediately following the deadline.
“Whilst the number of house-hunters registered per branch dropped in April, the supply of available housing to buy also fell quite sharply, so supply and demand are still moving in the opposite direction, rather than balancing out.
“Additionally, the upcoming EU Referendum means we’ve entered a period of uncertainty, as buyers put off their hunt in anticipation of the result, and what might happen to prices as a result.”
