August outperforms September in market's strangest year

In most parts of the UK, August out-performed September in terms of sales activity – underlining what a topsy-turvy market this has been. The finding emerges from monitoring board activity but was confirmed by several agents.

One, Eric Bushell, boss of Bushells in London, said it was the first time in his 23 years in the industry he had known this. However, he is now expecting October to be the strongest month of the year so far.

For Sale and Sold board activity in September, in fact,  showed the lowest level of monthly sales since February.

Agency Express, which has 25% of market share in the supply of boards, said that house sales activity in September dropped for the third consecutive month, falling 8.7% from August.

While house sales were good in some places – Glasgow, Colchester, Manchester, Cardiff and Bristol – the number of Sold boards dipped by over 33% in Leicester and Nottingham, with Cambridge and Brighton not far behind.

The number of new For Sale boards erected in September fell by 5.5% from August. Again, some places bucked the trend – Glasgow, Southampton, Oxford among them.

Stephen Watson, managing director of Agency Express, said: “Although we might have expected the number of properties Sold and to be put up For Sale in September to have increased, it appears that more people than usual were active in August.
“September’s findings show that the housing market is still showing signs of brittleness. However, we are expecting October to show a more positive picture both in terms of sales and houses being put on the market.