Data specialists warn some estate agents at risk of inventory clear-out
Sian Hiatt, Sales Manager, discusses recent data that shows some estate agents across the UK could potentially be at risk of near-zero inventory within months...
The media has been reporting on the shortage of properties available for sale across the UK for a while, and this is now being backed up with data from TwentyEA, a professional property data and analytics firm.
The parent company of TwentyEA, known as TwentyCi, recently published a Property and Homemover End of Year Report on 2021 data. In its findings it discovered that throughout 2021 there were 6% fewer properties made available for sale in the UK, with the end of the stamp duty holiday coupled with a lack of available options for potential buyers substantially slowing any property stock listing on the market.
Just 2.5 months’ worth of stock available across the UK
The data shows that on average, there is a mere 2.5 months’ worth of property stock available throughout the UK. We saw significant momentum in the residential property market between mid-2020 to the end of 2021, and this was largely fuelled by the introduction of a stamp duty holiday, keen buyers in search of additional space, and a change in many people’s priorities. With these now coming to an end, there is a re-calibration to pre-pandemic levels expected throughout the course of this year.
The places worst hit by a lack of available properties across the UK include the South West, Yorkshire & The Humber, Wales, the East Midlands and the West Midlands. If no new stock was to come to market in the very near future, these areas would be at risk of literally running out of stock.
Decrease of inventory in almost all property types
The research also found that, when compared against 2019 data, there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of all property types available apart from flats.
Perhaps the most worrying finding of all for wannabe-movers is that other than areas around central London, the entire countries of Wales and England at a regional level have somewhere in the region of just 2.2 and 3.1 months of property stock left for sale. Comparing this against historical norms, it shows that current levels of property availability are down by almost 50% in total.
According to TwentyEA, if a significant uplift in the volume of new property instructions on the residential market isn’t forthcoming, the UK is at risk of experiencing a significant slowdown as we work our way through 2022.
Property market lopsided in terms of supply and demand
Katy Billany, executive director at TwentyEA, claims that the scenario we’re seeing play out in so many of the UK’s property markets is “a little bit scary”. Shen went on to state that it’s “neither sustainable or healthy”, while she also pointed to a “dysfunctional housing market that remains too lopsided in terms of supply and demand”.
The general property market in the UK is no stranger to stock shortages, but the issues seem to have heightened quite substantially over the past couple of years, with levels of supply in many areas of the country currently standing at record lows.
Katy Billany worries that if the current trend doesn’t come to a head and instead continues with stock levels progressively dwindling, the property market, at least in some areas, could come to a grinding halt with virtually nothing left to sell. This then has a knock-on effect for agents, conveyancers, surveyors, and others who operate and largely rely on an operating property industry.
Billany highlights that this is of course a worst-case scenario, and we’re still some way off seeing this play out into reality, but it’s something that we shouldn’t dismiss or fail to pay close attention to in the coming months ahead.
Are you thinking of selling a property? If so, now is an ideal time to do so with inventory so low. To learn more, why not contact our friendly team of estate agents here at CPS Homes? With branches across Cardiff, we’re primed to ensure the market delivers you the best price possible. Call us on 02920 668585, e-mail enquiries@cpshomes.co.uk or pop in branch and speak to us.
