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Latest Agency Express Property Activity Index Shows Market Slows in April
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Agency Express has released the data from their latest Property Activity Index, revealing a dip in the UK property market during April.
Looking at national month on month figures for properties ‘Sold’, we can see that they have fallen to sit at -1.4%. Similarly, new ‘For Sale’ listings were shown to be at -1.9%.
However, the index has shown that over a three-month rolling period, there is in fact stability across the market. New listings ‘For Sale’ are sitting at 4.8%, and properties ‘Sold’ at 7.8%. Looking back at data from 12 months previous, we can see that activity was in fact slower, with ‘Sold’ properties sitting at -15.1% and new listings at -11.5%.
Four of the twelve regions included in the Property Activity Index have reported an increase in new ‘For Sale’ listings, and five have reported an increase in properties ‘Sold’.
This month’s top performers were:
New listings ‘For Sale’
- South West 7.4%
- South East 6.3%
- London 6.2%
- Central England 1%
Properties ‘Sold’
- South East 11.4%
- Scotland 4.9%
- Central England 2.3%
- South West 1.7%
- Wales 1.5%
Sitting at the top of this month’s leader board is the South East. Its figures for properties ‘Sold’ are shown to be rising for a fourth consecutive month, at 11.4%. The South West has shown much the same results, with new ‘For Sale’ listings at 7.4%.
The East Midlands showed the largest decline within April’s Property Activity Index. Despite a healthy start to the year, its ‘For Sale’ figures fell at -14.6%. Wales was not far behind, with new listings ‘For Sale’ at -10.40%. This marks the regions’ first decline in new listings since December.
Stephen Watson, Managing Director of Agency Express, has commented: “It is not uncommon for us to see a dip in activity throughout April, and this month we have witnessed a marginal decline compared to 2017.
“As we move in to May, we historically see a further slowdown across the market, then a pick up again in June. However, May 2017’s figures were robust, so it will be interesting to see if the trend has started to change.”
