The number of properties available for sale has soared year on year with 43% more sellers putting their home on the market in March 2018 compared to the same month last year.
Data released by online estate agents HouseSimple.com also revealed property listings went up by 1.1% between February and March 2018.
In that time, Chichester experienced the steepest rise in new properties available with a 47.1% increase. Meanwhile Rochdale saw the fewest number of new sellers marketing homes for sale – figures dropped by 26.3%.
According to HouseSimple’s latest Property Supply Index 67,931 new properties were marketed by estate agents in March 2018 across 100 major UK towns and cities, compared to just 47,413 in March 2017. HouseSimple pointed out this was the month Theresa May triggered Article 50.
It said that the number of new properties listed in March actually fell 27.7% compared to February as buyer and seller confidence was hit by fears that launch of the Brexit process would spark economic turmoil.
This year, however, HouseSimple said the trend had been reversed, with new properties listed for sale last month up by 1.1% compared to February 2018.
March typically marks the start of the buoyant Spring market but the snow in the early part of the month meant many sellers had delayed listing their properties.
The estate agent has forecast the Spring ‘bounce’ will now take place in April.
Sam Mitchell, CEO of HouseSimple, said: “Although the early Spring market was disrupted by some pretty awful weather in March, now the snow has melted, the next couple of months are set to be a busy period.
“Saying that, we still saw quite a few opportunistic sellers marketing last month hoping to steal a march on the competition and secure a sale while fewer properties were being listed.
“Seller activity has already picked up noticeably since Easter, and in the current buyer’s market, the successful seller will be the one who stands out from the crowd, whether that’s pricing their property realistically or offering a superior product to the market.”
