Monthly Sales Volume Variances for England & Wales
Month | Sales Volume 2015 |
Sales Volume 2016 |
Annual Variance |
Monthly Variance |
February 2016 |
62,329 |
67,867 |
+8.9% |
+6.1% |
March 2016 |
70,924 |
117,255 |
+65.3% |
+42.1% |
April 2016 |
67,784 |
55,412 |
-18.2% |
-52.8% |
May 2016 |
78,582 |
63,228 |
-19.5% |
+14.1% |
June 2016 |
89,201 |
77,792 |
-12.8% |
+23.0% |
July 2016 |
97,643 |
81,651 |
-16.4% |
+5.0% |
August 2016 |
88,590 |
83,259 | -6.0% | +2.0% |
September 2016 |
86,348 |
79,379 | -8.1% |
-4.7% |
October 2016 |
94,494 |
73,631 |
-22.1% |
-7.2% |
November 2016 |
83,325 |
76,187 |
-8.6% |
+3.5% |
December 2016 |
84,496 |
78,758 |
-6.8% |
+3.4% |
January 2017 |
63,751 (2016) |
55,567 (2017) |
-12.8% |
-29.6% |
February 2017 |
67,867 (2016) |
55,791 (2017) |
-17.8% |
+0.6% |
2017 Year to Date Sales Volume (Jan - Feb 2017) |
131,618 (2016) |
111,358 |
-15.4% (-20,260) |
NAEA: only 3% of properties sold above asking price
The National Association of Estate Agents' monthly Housing Market Report stated that only 3% of homes were sold above the asking price, which is down 4% from April and is the lowest level since October.
Currently 77% of - more than 3 in 4 - homes are selling for less than asking price, up 5% from April.
Demand - mixed news
The NAEA recorded that the number of house hunters per member branch fell by 8% from 381 in April to 350 in May - a 6-month low - and put this down to uncertainty caused by the recent general election. Year-on-year however it noted that demand has risen 15% since May 2016, when 304 buyers were registered per branch.
Supply - minor cause for optimism?
The NAEA recorded that housing supply rose 11% from April to 40 properties per branch and rose slightly year-on-year: last May, there were 37 properties per branch.
Sales agreed per branch rose from 8 in April to 10 in May, which was the same number recorded for March.
Monthly Property Price Variance for England & Wales
Month | Sale Price 2015 |
Sale Price 2016 |
Annual Variance |
Monthly Variance |
April |
£201,968 |
£218,968 |
+8.4% |
+0.5% |
May |
£204,179 |
£221,564 |
+9.5% |
+1.2% |
June |
£205,747 |
£223,662 | +8.7% |
+1.0% |
July |
£209,200 |
£225,939 |
+8.0% |
+1.0% |
August |
£211,391 |
£226,154 | +7.0% |
+0.1% |
September |
£211,916 |
£225,847 |
+6.6% |
-0.1% |
October |
£212,268 |
£225,196 |
+6.1% | -0.3% |
November |
£213,973 |
£226,151 |
+5.7% |
+0.4% |
December |
£215,023 |
£227,112 |
+5.6% | +0.4% |
January |
£215,638 (Sale Price 2016) |
£227,068 (Sale Price 2017) |
+5.3% | 0.0% |
February |
£216,083 (Sale Price 2016) |
£228,444 (Sale Price 2017) |
+5.7% |
+0.6% |
March |
£217,901 (Sale Price 2016) |
£228,446 (Sale Price 2017) |
+4.8% |
0.0% |
April |
£218,968 (Sale Price 2016) |
£231,269 (Sale Price 2017) |
+5.6% |
+1.2% |
Mark Hayward, Chief Executive of the NAEA said: "As a rule of thumb, periods of political uncertainty impact the way buyers and sellers interact with the housing market. In May, it looks like new buyers were stalling their house search until after the election; however the number of sales agreed per branch increased meaning the political landscape hasn’t deterred all house hunters. Following the result of the general election, it will be interesting to see how the market reacts over the coming months as summer is peak house-moving season."
Andrew Boast, Co-founder of SAM Conveyancing said: "The possible reasons for optimism in the present housing market at present would need to be observed over a period of many months before stakeholders can become more upbeat. The fundamentals remain that there is a continuing crisis and although the Queen's Speech did mention the issue, there were no new concrete proposals or initiatives stated within it and first time buyers in particular seem to have been at best overlooked.
Unless there is considerably more house-building activity - and this encouraged by changes to the planning regime and other institutional factors - it is presently difficult to see a way out of the continuing crisis."
We will only ever email you our monthly housing market update; we never release these details to any third party.