Demand for new housing keeps increasing and remains at a record high level, according to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) July Housing Market Report.
The number of house hunters per NAEA branch rose 5 per cent on the month to 462 in July, which is the highest number recorded since August 2004, when the average number of potential buyers per branch stood at 582.
Housing demand was at an 11-year high in June already and does not show any signs of a slowdown.
Available housing also increased in July, rising 25 per cent between June and July. The number of properties available per NAEA branch last month was 55, compared to 44 in June. This was the highest housing stock supply in two years (since September 2013).
However, the number of home sales in July was the same as in the previous two months, which means that completing a purchase remains challenging for buyers even though there are more homes available for sale.
Sales to first-time buyers accounted for just 23 per cent of overall sales in July, down from 24 per cent in June and 29 per cent in May. In an annual comparison though, there is a small increase as first-time buyers accounted for just a fifth (20 per cent) of all property sales in July 2014.
“Typically, we’d expect to see sales taking longer to complete during the summer months, as buyers and sellers are on holiday. It is alarming however, that the number of sales being made to first time buyers is steadily falling. Having said that, the fact that there is more housing coming on to the market means that hopefully over the next few months we’ll see activity in the market increasing and more sales completing, to respond to the growing army of house hunters we’ve seen emerging over the last few months, ” Mark Hayward, managing director of NAEA, said.
“The truth of the matter is though, there simply aren’t enough houses to meet growing demand, and until we see more physical bricks and mortar, there may be no hope in solving the housing crisis. It’s also alarming that the number of sales being made to first time buyers is steadily falling; with reports of house prices increasing and expectations of rising in the future, first time buyers will continue to be pushed out of the market,” Hayward said.
