Shortage of houses coming onto the market
- People currently expect house prices to rise by 6.4% over the next twelve months and 31% of home seekers would account a rise primarily to the fact that there are too few properties coming on to the market.
- The percentage of people who believe house price rises are attributable to supply problems caused by a lack of properties being put on the market increased significantly over the last year, peaking this January but remaining high. (
- Whilst 31% of people blame undersupply on the lack of properties coming onto the market, only 24% currently believe supply problems are due to the rate of new builds.
- 13% of people currently looking for property have been searching for more than 11 months.
Warren Bright, Chief Executive Officer of Propertyfinder.com, commented:
The number of buyers in the market is disproportionate to the number of properties being sold. Not only are our estate agent customers recognising this, but so are home seekers. People are genuinely worried about the fact that whilst supply remains such an issue, house prices will continue to rise, making homes less affordable. The problem is, people simply can not afford to move house – hence the lack of homes on the market.
Our research shows that the total cost of moving, before you have even paid for the house, stands at nearly £10,000 – a ten year increase of 214%! The majority of these costs are stamp duty. Whilst agent and lawyer fees have risen in line with, or slightly below inflation, stamp duty has risen an unjustifiable 527% over ten years. It is no wonder that people are staying put, and that we are experiencing such supply problems at the bottom end of the ladder. If the government wants to stem house price growth, they would do better to lower stamp duty than raise rates.
