Proptech veteran launches index showing seller hotspots

London and the Home Counties have topped the list of ‘hotspots’ for potential house sales, according to a new Pre Mover Index.

The index has been launched by Outra, a data science firm owned by proptech veteran and Hometrack founder Giles Mackay.

Outra uses artificial intelligence to predict the likelihood of property owners putting their house on the market for sale in the next six months. It draws on more than 200 variables and said it is capable of identifying the top 50,000 households at an accuracy rate of more than one in 3. 

It includes property specific data such as property type, estimated value, bedroom count and the amount of time that has elapsed since the last sale. The tool also factors in local market characteristics such as recent house sales in each postcode district, the change in an individual house price over past 24 months and the overall liquidity within a given area.

Model accuracy is calculated by validating the predictions against real listings data over a period of 18 months.

Outra’s latest research suggests 19 of the 20 hottest areas – those that contain the highest proportion of properties expected to hit the market in the next six months – are located in London and its neighbouring counties.
 

The list of England and Wales hotspots is topped by Havering in East London, Harrow in northwest London and Kingston Upon Thames in southwest London.

Bassetlaw in north Nottinghamshire is the only one of the 20 local authorities located outside of Greater London and its adjacent counties.

The majority were in Greater London, with the exception of Spelthorne in Surrey, Slough in Berkshire and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire.

Peter Jackson, chief data and technology officer for Outra, said: “The vast majority of the hotspots we’ve identified are in London and its surrounding counties, where housing market activity remains strong.

“This suggests those with the greatest potential to move still live in some of the most in-demand areas in the country – either locations sought by those working in London who want to live there, or residences still within striking distance.”