The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has released the latest figures from its housing market survey revealing a surge of properties being placed onto the market in the run up to the anticipated June 1st HIPs launch.
Housing stock surged in May. Nationally, the number of properties per agent leapt 16.1% from 62 in April to 72. This is considerably higher than figures seen at the same time last year, when the average number of properties per agent was 66. It is in fact the highest figure recorded by the survey since December 2005. The dramatic increase is likely to be the result of a desire by homeowners to avoid the anticipated HIPs legislation, originally due to launch on June 1st. The latest numbers indicate the aversion of house sellers to the legislation and the lengths they are willing to go to avoid them.
The number of sales reported per agent remained level with 13 houses being sold per NAEA agent, the same as the previous month. This indicates that the market remains stable despite the uncertainty surrounding new legislation and continuing interest rate changes. However, the figure is still lower then the same time last year, when on average 15 sales per agent were made.
The percentage share for first time buyers in the property market dropped from 10.3% in April 2007 to 8.9% in May, falling for the third month in a row. This continuing decrease in market share is concerning and the NAEA urges the Government to increase its efforts to assist this fragile sector of the market.
NAEA President, Stewart Lilly, comments: "As predicted there was a huge surge of properties being placed onto the market in May by sellers who were keen to dodge the HIPs legislation. Even with the announced delay, agents still found that properties were being placed on their books at a fast pace. I feel that this will still be the case throughout June and may continue into July in anticipation of the new, watered down launch date of August 1st. I am alarmed that month after month the percentage of first time buyers in the market is dropping and we are now faced with the worrying figure of just 8.9% of first time buyers in the marketplace. I continue to urge the Government to start making more allowances for this struggling sector and would like to see more initiatives put in place so this figure does not continue to drop."
