Property supply across the UK was down 8.6% in August compared to July, with almost two-thirds (63.8%) of the country’s towns and cities experiencing a drop off in new property listings.
Although the majority of towns and cities saw property supply fall in August – including London, which saw new property listings falls 14.4% – more than a third actually experienced a rise in new listings.
Despite Darlington and Durham being just 20 miles apart on the map, they are miles apart when it comes to property supply.
While Darlington saw new properties listed in August jump by 30.2% compared to July, housing supply in Durham dropped by almost a third (31.2%), according to the latest property supply index from online estate agents HouseSimple.com.
It is a similar story for Telford and Hereford, both in the West Midlands and just over 50 miles apart.
Telford saw the biggest rise (39.7%) in property supply in August of any town analysed by HouseSimple, while Hereford saw the biggest fall (33.3%) of any town.
To compile the Index, HouseSimple looks at data on more than 500,000 listed properties, to track the number of new properties marketed every month in more than 100 major towns and cities across the UK and all London boroughs.
Alex Gosling, CEO of HouseSimple.com, said: “Our latest supply index shows that although UK wide there is a shortage of new property stock, you can find big disparities in stock levels in neighbouring property markets.
“For example, sellers in Durham appear more reluctant to put their properties on the market than they do in Darlington, with Durham seeing new property listings falling by more than 30% while Darlington experienced a 30% hike in new listings.
“August is traditionally a quieter month for the property market, so we would expect to see stock levels down during July and August when families head off for their summer holidays. But with such low levels of property stock at the moment across the country, we have seen slightly unusual stock behaviour since the EU Referendum. A third of towns and cities we researched saw property supply rise last month when we would normally expect it to fall.
“September is a buoyant time for the property market, and typically we would expect to see new property listings rising across the country. If that doesn’t happen then alarm bells may start ringing. Hopefully the boost from a cut in interest rates, and more confidence generally in the state of the UK economy post-Brexit, should provide the reassurances that both buyers and sellers need.”
UK towns and cities that experienced the biggest falls in new property listings in August versus July
| Town/City | Region | % fall in new listings in August vs. July |
| Hereford | West Midlands | -33.3% |
| Durham | North East | -31.2% |
| Canterbury | South East | -29.8% |
| Hemel Hempstead | East | -27.8% |
| Birmingham | West Midlands | -23.4% |
| Basildon | East | -22.5% |
| Exeter | South West | -22.0% |
| Brighton | South East | -21.4% |
| Luton | South East | -20.4% |
| Perth | Scotland | -20.3% |
UK towns and cities that experienced the biggest rises in new property listings in August versus July
| Town/City | Region | % rise in new listings in August vs July |
| Telford | West Midlands | 39.7% |
| Darlington | North East | 30.2% |
| Winchester | South | 29.5% |
| Runcorn | North West | 29.2% |
| Bootle | North West | 24.5% |
| Chichester | South East | 23.5% |
| Inverness | Scotland | 23.4% |
| Rotherham | South Yorkshire | 21.8% |
| Rugby | West Midlands | 20.7% |
| King’s Lynn | East | 20.3% |
