Nearly a quarter of a million new properties were made available between April and June, up 3% on the same period last year.
However the data also highlights the lack of affordable property on the market for first time buyers and families on stretched incomes – especially in London.
Owners of high end properties - those valued at more than £500k – put their homes up for sale in increasing numbers. Across the UK, the number of homes put up for sale in the £500k-£750k price band increased by 17%, while houses valued £750k plus increased by 5%. In central London the increase was 18% in £500k to £750k properties, with a 25% increase in Greater London.
However, there was a significant decline (44%) in the number of new properties for sale between £100k and £250k in central London. Just shy of 2,000 properties came onto the market in this price band. It was a similar story in the Greater London region, with a decrease of 25%, and a little over 1,500 newly listed properties available.
Overall, the number of homes priced between £100k and £250k being put up for sale, and houses valued under £100k, saw decreases of 3% and 2% respectively.
Regionally, the North West saw the largest total number of properties come on to the market in Q2 2015 with 32,229 homes for sale – an increase of 17% on Q2 2014. Homes entering the market in the Greater London region increased by 8%, followed by the West Midlands with 6% more homes available.
Andy Wills, Data Director at Experian Consumer Information Services, commented:
“As the housing squeeze continues to impact first and second time buyers, as well as growing families, putting yourself in good financial shape and having a strong credit score is vital to securing the mortgage you need. We work with lenders too and encourage them to look at people’s particular circumstances and gain the best insight they can into what customers can realistically afford.”
