There’s been a sharp fall in demand from additional home purchasers and investors, in response to recent stamp duty and council tax changes.
This is according to a comprehensive market analysis produced by lettings and sales agency Hamptons.
While there was a big sales uplift came from first-time buyers (up 4% year-on-year), there was an 18% decline in the number of applicants seeking an additional home.
In fact, the number of people looking to buy an additional home has fallen to its lowest level since May 2020 – the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Overall buyer demand hit a four-year high in May with more people registered to buy last month than in any May since 2021. The agency suggests this indicates long term pent-up demand fuelled by falling mortgage rates.
There were 3% more applicants looking to buy compared to the same month last year, up from a 10% year-on-year decline in April as the post stamp duty holiday lull subsided.
The North West saw the biggest increase, with applicant numbers rising 9% year-on-year. The West Midlands (+7%) and London (+4%) followed. The North East is the only region where there were fewer house hunters than last year (-6%).
Hamptons says falling mortgage rates, combined with changes to stress testing, have boosted buyers’ purchasing power. This is particularly true for first-time buyers with smaller deposits, since it’s these rates that have declined the most.
Consequently, prices are holding up.
The average property in England and Wales sold for 99.0% of its final asking price last month, up from 98.8% in May 2024.
Just 12.8% of homes in England & Wales were sold in May for more than 5% below their final asking price, the lowest share since September 2022, just before the disastrous Liz Truss mini-budget. Only 3.0% of buyers managed to agree a +10% discount last month.
The £1m+ market remains most sensitive.
This is the only price band where buyers are more likely to achieve a +5% discount than last year. Nearly one in three (32%) sales agreed over £1m were sold for more than 5% less than their final asking price in May, the highest proportion recorded in any May since 2020.
Meanwhile, homes sold for between £500k and £1m, typically bought by upsizers, saw the biggest decline in discounting.
Buyers in the East of England are least likely to be able to agree a discount on their new home. In this region, just 9% of buyers in May had an offer accepted at least 5% below the asking price, down from 13% in May 2024.
Meanwhile, 19% of buyers in the North East achieved a +5% discount.
Although demand has picked up over the last month, stock levels remain high. There are 4% more homes on the market across Britain than in May 2024, and 41% more than in May 2019.
The average home that went under offer in May had been on the market for 54 days, up from 48 days for the typical home that sold in May 2024. Just under a third (31%) of homes sold last month went under offer within 30 days, the lowest proportion recorded in any May since 2020.
Homes sold over £1m recorded the biggest increase in the length of time on the market. The average £1m home sold in May came onto the market 56 days previous, 11 days longer than in May 2024. Meanwhile, homes under £1m saw a 6-day increase, averaging 54 days.
In a reversal of the trend seen between 2016 and 2024, London homes are more likely to go under offer within a month than the all-Britain average. Some 32% of homes in the capital sold within a month in May. London is one of only two regions where there are fewer homes available to buy than last year, with stock levels down 12% year-on-year.
Scotland remains the quickest region to sell. Over half (54%) of homes sold in Scotland last month went under offer within 30 days, up from 50% in May 2024. The average home here went under offer within 28 days, half the Great Britain average (54 days).
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, says: “The post-Stamp Duty holiday lull has proven to be short-lived, with year-on-year changes in buyer demand returning to positive territory in May.
“Falling mortgage rates have significantly boosted buyers’ purchasing power, in most cases offsetting the increase in stamp duty bills they now face.
“First-time buyers have been the most significant beneficiaries, with high loan-to-value mortgage rates seeing the most substantial falls, alongside more favourable affordability assessments from lenders.
“However, prime markets remain tentative. These typically discretionary sellers are willing to wait for prices to recover and are less prepared to sell at any cost. As a result, only 27% of homes purchased for over £1m a decade ago have since been sold, compared to 40% of all homes across the country.
“The London recovery is primarily driven by its more affordable suburbs, rather than prime central London where potential sellers run a greater risk of having to sell their homes for less than they bought them for. This significantly dampens their appetite to move and makes them far less receptive to low offers.”
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