NAEA Propertymark (National Association of Estate Agents) has reported that the number of properties available to buy on estate agents’ books dropped from 37 in June to 35 in July.

This figure is the lowest level recorded for the month of July since records began in 2002. This is the lowest level seen since last September when the rate was also 23%. The last time it was lower than 23% was in November 2015, when 21% of sales were made to first-time buyers.

Typical of this time of year, the number of sales agreed per branch fell in July. In June there were 11 sales agreed per branch, compared to just eight last month.

Seasonality hit house hunters, as the number of people looking for properties fell 10% from 384 per branch in June, compared to 347 in July.

This is the lowest it has been since November 2016 when 344 potential buyers were registered per branch, however a considerable increase from July 2016, when just 298 were recorded.

Only 3% of properties were sold above asking price in July, an increase of one percentage point from June.

The number of homes which sold for less than asking price rose to 80% last month – up from one% in June and the highest level since December 2016.

Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark, said: “It is natural for the market to dip in the summer and then recover. We usually see a subdued July and August, and then a boom in September with an influx of new properties coming onto the market, it remains to be seen whether this year is typical.

“We’d also expect to see the number of house hunter increase, as buyers strive to complete sales before the winter kicks in.”