Online estate agent, eMoov.co.uk, has released its fourth and final Hotspots Index of the year, detailing which areas have seen the largest increases and decreases in property demand.
The index attributes a percentage score for each area based on the level of stock available on the major property portals, to that which has already sold, before calculating the total change between indices.
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The data shows that nationally, property demand has fallen by -7% overall. But perhaps the biggest surprise of the year is where demand is currently strongest and which areas have seen the biggest increases.
Bexley (65%) drops to third from its usual top spot, toppled by Solihull (77%) and Portsmouth (67%). Demand is also 65% in Bristol with Northampton (60%), Medway (59%), Gloucester (58%), Ipswich (58%), Bedford and Edinburgh (57%) completing the top 10 highest demand at present.
eMoov Founder and CEO, Russell Quirk, commented, “A tough year for the UK market but it has come through it relatively unscathed. Although changes to second home stamp duty thresholds and the Leave vote may have tainted demand slightly due to an air of uncertainty, there seem to be a number of areas that have benefited with the market almost turned on its head in terms of desirability to buyers. 2016 seems to have been a bit of a leveller where the property market is concerned, with many of the so-called “weaker” markets really seeing a spike in buyer demand, which will, in turn, result in a healthy increase in prices going into the New Year.”
However, it is where demand has increased the greatest over 2016 that provides the most peculiar coincidence, with nine of the top 10 all beginning with an s. With the London market slowing due to a combination of second home stamp duty tax and a lack of foreign interest post-Brexit, it is the Midlands and northern regions that have benefitted from the greatest increase in property demand.
With six out of the top 10 biggest increase located here, it would seem the engines of the Northern Property Powerhouse are being stoked by UK buyers and the more affordable price of property could see it steam ahead moving into 2017.
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Meanwhile, another online estate agent, HouseSimple.com, has revealed that property supply fell by almost a fifth in London last month, with just two of the capital’s boroughs experiencing an uplift in new listings.
Alex Gosling, CEO of online estate agents HouseSimple.com comments: “November is traditionally a buoyant month for the property market, with sellers looking to secure a sale before the festive break. It will come as something of a surprise then to see supply levels fall again last month, and a near 12% fall will be a concern when supply levels are extremely low in many areas. This drop in supply could simply be a correction after new listings jumped in September. It could also be due in part to the fallout from the EU vote and shock Trump election result, although the property market had proved extremely resilient to these two seismic events in the space of a few months. In truth, the lack of supply has been an issue throughout this year. There are plenty of buyers but sellers have been scarce on the ground.”
