After a very quiet summer during which housing supply in the UK hit critically low levels, more than 60% of towns and cities saw an increase in property supply between August and September.
The Scottish market, in particular, has seen a surge in new property listings in September with supply almost tripling (171.1%) in Dundee; while Aberdeen saw a 48.8% rise in new listings, and Edinburgh and Perth listings up 28.3% and 24.7% respectively.
Sunderland saw a massive rise in new property listings, up almost 50% (46.7%) in September compared to August, while Cambridge saw a 35.5% rise in supply between August and September.
The number of new properties listed across the capital in September hit almost 25,000, up more than a quarter (27.1%). The borough of Kensington and Chelsea experienced the biggest spike in supply, with new property listings more than doubling (122.2%) in September compared to August, while Camden saw supply up 95.7% between August and September.
Only two of the 32 London boroughs - Croydon and Lambeth - saw a fall in supply between August and September, but there is still a severe shortage of new properties being marketed in the capital.
Alex Gosling, CEO of online estate agents HouseSimple.com, commented:
“The current housing shortage in the UK has been a major contributory factor in rising property prices. We are in the grip of a severe property shortage and if September hadn’t seen a spike in new property listings we really could have been looking at a full-blown supply crisis.
“Fortunately it seems sellers have woken from their summer slumber and September figures are far more encouraging. Almost 60% of UK towns and cities have seen stock levels rise between August and September. But it’s too early to breath a huge sigh of relief that a property crisis has been averted.
“Stock reservoirs still remain dangerously low. September needs to provide the catalyst. We need to kick on from here and gather some momentum for the rest of the year. With demand so high, it’s the perfect time to sell.
“The housing market still has a long road to travel to rebalance supply and demand, but these latest listings figures show that we are finally moving in the right direction.”
