There was a boost to property listings in the UK in February, up almost 20% and led by Dundee, Hereford and Edinburgh, the latest research shows.
Overall listings increased by 19.9% with supply in Dundee up 82.2%, in Hereford up 80.3% and in Edinburgh up 75.9%, according to the property supply index from HouseSimple.
Even in London, where the market has been slow, supply was up 14.9% month on month while overall listings are 2.5% nationwide compared with February 2017 as 93% of towns and cities saw an increase in new sellers.
Other towns that saw a substantial rise in new sellers in February include Bath up 70.9%, Rotherham up 67.1%, Sale up 64.8%, Middlesbrough up 57.4%, Woking up 56.5% and Runcorn up 56.3%.
But supply is dropping in some locations. The biggest drop in listing was a fall of 16.4% in Rugby, followed by Stevenage down 14.5%, and Oldham down 12.2%.
In London the biggest rise in supply was in the borough of Barking and Dagenham with an increase of 32.5%, followed by Lambeth up 29.8%, Westminster up 24.3% and Hounslow up 23.1%.
‘It’s encouraging to see that a healthy January in terms of replenishing stock levels has been followed by a strong February. However, the number of new sellers marketing last month was actually only 2.5% higher than the corresponding month in 2017,’ said Sam Mitchell, chief executive officer of online estate agents HouseSimple.com.
‘This suggests that rather than a sudden rush of sellers, that we have simply seen normal seller numbers in January and February after an extremely slow December. The property market is still in dire need of more stock, but at least stock levels are going in the right direction and sellers should hopefully be encouraged by signs that buyers are showing more intent to make offers,’ he explained.
‘The next couple of months, as we enter the Spring period, will be crucial to maintain momentum, and especially this year as Brexit rhetoric ramps up. The market has proved robust enough to deflect Brexit concerns so far, but a slow Spring could leave the market vulnerable if the UK economy begins to stutter,’ he added.
