The end of year is always a good time to take stock and review what has happened in the past year. This information can hopefully act as a platform for predictions and growth in the New Year but it also provides companies and people with the chance to review how they performed alongside national averages. This is definitely something that is of interest and benefit in the property market, which is why the 2017 NAEA and ARLA Propertymark reviews are of interest.
With respect to the UK housing market, NAEA Propertymark has provided a range of figures. The demand for property in 2017 reached a high in January and February. The start of the year was the busiest time in the sector with an average of 425 property buyers registered per branch. Overall, there was a higher level of demand for property in 2017 than in 2016. This can be seen with the fact that the 2016 average registered users per branch was 365 and in 2017, this figure stood at 380.
The beginning of 2017 was a busy time in the property market according to NAEA
As for supply of property, the beginning of the year was also the busiest time. In February of 2017, there was an average of 44 properties available to purchase from each branch. In comparing 2016 and 2017, there has been no overall change in supply with an average of 39 properties being available per branch in both of these years.
When it comes to the highest number of sales agreed, February and June were the busiest months, with an average of 11 per branch. For 2016, the busiest month was March and this saw an average of 10 sales per branch. The average for the whole year sees 2017 edging out 2016, with an average of nine property sales per branch per month this year and an average of eight property sales per branch per month in 2016.
Homes are selling for less than the asking price
One major issue that comes out of the property market analysis is that in 2017, homes were sold for a price lower than the asking price, on average, 77% of the time. In total, only 4% of homes were sold for a figure higher than the original asking price. In singing off these figures, Mark Hayward who is the Chief Executive for NAEA Propertymark believes that the removal of stamp duty for first time buyers has provided optimism in the marketplace.
With respect to the private rented sector, there are figures provided by ARLA Propertymark to consider. The supply of rental properties was at its highest in 2017 with 193 properties per branch, which occurred in January. The 2016 average was 180 properties per branch while for 2017, the average between January and October stands at 188 properties per branch.
There was a notable spike in landlords selling their buy to let properties in March and April, with agents indicating that there had been a 33% increase in landlords selling their property. In August of 2017, 35% of tenants experienced a rent hike, with this figure dropping to 27% for September of 2017.
There is no denying that 2017 was an interesting, and challenging, year in the rental market and many industry specialists believe this will continue to be the case in 2017.
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