Estate agency network Move With Us says that agents’ new additions to property listings have reached a six-month high – and that buyers are not baulking at rising asking prices.
It says that in March, over 126,000 new instructions were listed on the market and average asking prices across the UK were at just under £228,500.
Ben Greco, director of part-exchange at Move With Us, said: “The start of 2012 brought with it the usual surge in new listings expected every January. This time, however, it showed little signs of slowing down as the quarter progressed, and by March, new listings reached a six-month high.
“The considerable increases in new listings seen in the first quarter of 2012 would normally have resulted in some downwards pressure on prices as the competition amongst sellers increased. This certainly looks to have been the case in January as average prices were reduced.
“However, sellers appear to have grown more optimistic in both February and March, as average asking prices recovered and reached a six-month high by the end of the quarter.
“If sellers’ optimism had not been not met by an increase in buyer numbers, or at least a shared outlook from those already active in the market place, the increase in asking prices would have resulted in higher discounting and lengthening time to sell.
“This did not happen, and whilst these measures on their own have remained steady without real improvement, the fact that they have not deteriorated in the face of increases in supply and prices must be taken as a positive.
“Looking ahead, we are starting to see signs that the second quarter may bring real and quantifiable improvements in the UK housing market.”
Move With Us used data from its own sales plus property listings supplied by property search engine Home.
Comments
It takes MWU 4 bloody months to send our commission cheques.
Stay clear.
BBA Mortgage Approvals data out this week reports lowest numbers for ten months.
How's that?
Nobflop...I like it, I can't stop giggling like a naughty schoolboy.
I quite like MWU and we do get a decent number of listings, but I have had more than my fair share of bust ups with them over the years with their Ts&Cs.
@rant,
Im careful to ignore as much as possible of what the NAEA say or Nobflop or whatever it is they are now called come out with, especially now they have that nice looking lady who had the shocking dose of stage fright on telly not so long ago at the helm supposedly speaking for the industry but actually not.
However, on your recommendation ive just read that article and it says nothing about any drop in FTB’s and provides no figures to support the headline and says FTB transactions went up 1% point in March to the dizzying heights last seen in that memorably boomy period, May 2011, or as most of us call it, ‘roughly this time last year.’
Come on rant, you know you were wrong and if you are basing it on this flakey headline then shame on you, lets wait for some proper numbers? Although like this recession we were apparently in I reckon it might turn out that naff all changed, no ups, no downs just the world bumbling on
Jonnie
Rantnrave, why try to reason with such moaners, no wonder Estate Agents as detested so much, moan about just about anything, any regulations, any laws just anything!
Jonnie - I'm just using details that have been posted on EAToday recently, like this article:
First-time buyers may have vanished after Stamp Duty rush
http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/First-time-buyers-my-have-vanished-after-Stamp-Duty-rush
Alright, ill start with Cleo,
If you are an attractive female over 25 and under 45 then im open to ideas and invites, if you are un appealing or male in any way, im washing my hair! God I hope you are pretty but don’t tell my wife……………………..
Now, rantnrave – me and you are mates yes? We have known each other a while and I think we rub along alright, however, you have to remember where we are, I see your stuff on HPC and fair enough with your HPC hat on you can do all this un substantiated / off the cuff quoting stuff but you’re on EAT and we like you to come here with facts not sound bites……………………….you cant rattle off stuff like all the FTB’s have bought / buggered off because you don’t know this, you don’t work in EA so you cant even base it on your daily experiences. Anyway, thats my rant to rant done, wait until the CML stats come out that will back you up before making such statements.
Wardy, seen it mate, im all over the show on it though, Im torn between thinking that an industry that is supposedly so full of sharks is being fisted for cash by even bigger sharks and wishing id thought of it myself – get a few hundred mugs to pay you money for something you don’t have to bother delivering on, just keep selling the dream…………….’this time next year Rodney you will get some decent instructions from us………………’
Jonnie
Jonnie,
Ever read the small print from these guys on the valuation email?
In essence, we make you aware of a vendor you all ready knew about, We then offer same vendor a paltry amount for their home. If upset vendor instructs you then PAY US!
I don’t touch these people with a barge pole.
With fewer FTBs kicking around (especially after the reimposition of the lower stamp duty), the number of buyers who are also vendors is significantly higher than in recent years.
No wonder these people are not put off by higher asking prices. They just whack another £10K in response on top of the property they are trying to sell.
What are you up to at the weekend Jonnie?
Nice,
A master class is mis judging your ‘member agents’ sentiment, lets just take a minute to think of the EA’s that pay to be in the MWU network, sitting there waiting for the consistent, quality supply of repos and PX instructions they were promised, direct debit dutifully leaving the bank every month, some even chucking the odd conveyancing instruction at them…………………what do they get? The odd multi shared with 3 others that don’t pay the monthly tickle and all for something daft like 1% less a lick of the spoon for MWU of 20% of that.
And now, the poor sods have this lot bunging out half arsed press releases that could be knocked out on a Blackberry in 1 minute that will help EA’s manage vendor expectations and price reductions in the same way hitting them with a wet fish would.
Feel like you want to keep paying your fees chaps? MWU the informed and accurate voice of the industry or mis guided monkeys with as much of a connection with the front line of the property market as my old Nan?
Jonnie