Property supply in the UK fell 4% in April at a time when the housing market would normally expect the number of new properties being listed to rise, the latest data shows.
The biggest fall was recorded in Runcorn with new listings down by 33.9%, followed by Doncaster down by 31.1% and Woking down by 28.6%, according to the property supply index from online estate agent HouseSimple.
But the analysis of 500,000 listed properties shows considerable variation in the 100 major towns and cities tracked by the index. At the opposite end of the scale Newquay saw supply increase by 69%, followed by Oldham with a rise of 42.4% and Nuneaton with growth of 39.3%.
Supply rose just 1.5% overall in London in April, but across the boroughs, new property listings varied significantly, with Lewisham seeing new listings grow by 76% compared to Haringey where supply fell by 21.2%.
‘The property market doesn’t like uncertainty and triggering Article 50 and announcing a snap general election shortly after is a huge amount of uncertainty for sellers to digest,’ said Alex Gosling, HouseSimple chief executive officer.
‘The good news for the property market is that this election doesn’t appear to be a close run affair so it’s likely that any negative impact on the property market will be short lived,’ he explained.
‘If the market is a little slower up until the general election on 08 June, then it’s likely after the result is known, there will be a boost in supply, with sellers looking to find buyers before the summer kicks in and everyone heads off on holiday,’ he pointed out.
‘But if sellers need to move then they shouldn’t hold off until after the election hoping that market conditions will change radically after the result,’ he added.
