Lower Mortgage Rates Drive Property Sales Surge in Q3 2024
The UK property market saw a significant boost in Q3 2024, with sales subject to contract rising by an impressive 23% compared to the same period last year. According to recent data from TwentyEA, 332,200 sales were agreed upon during this quarter, a marked increase from 269,225 in Q3 2023.
This surge suggests that transaction growth will likely continue into 2025, proving that demand remains strong, even after July's parliamentary election. The East of England and East Midlands led the way with a 28% rise in agreed sales, while major cities like Southampton, Peterborough, and Birmingham also enjoyed notable increases.
Property Supply: The Market Continues to Thrive
The property market in Q3 2024 saw its highest supply in six years, with 456,902 properties listed for sale—an increase of 9% from Q3 2023. Additionally, property exchanges are up by 10.9%, signalling the ongoing resilience of the market.
Katy Billany, Executive Director at TwentyEA, attributed this growth to lower mortgage rates, which have boosted demand. The Bank of England’s decision to maintain its base rate has further stabilised the market. However, some homeowners are being forced to sell due to financial pressures linked to fixed-rate mortgages.
Property Prices: Small Increases with Larger Reductions
While the average asking price for residential properties rose to £436,000 in Q3 2024, this figure reflects only a slight increase of 0.4% from the same period in 2023. However, it’s down £20,000 from Q2, highlighting a shift in the type of properties being listed as new instructions.
Price reductions have been a notable trend in both 2023 and 2024, with an 8.6% rise in the number of listings experiencing price cuts. The exception to this is Inner London, which saw just a 1% reduction. Scotland, on the other hand, recorded a significant increase in price reductions, rising from 18% in 2023 to 21% in 2024.
Buy-to-Let Properties: More Landlords Exit the Market
The number of properties previously rented in the last three years and now listed for sale has reached a decade-high in 2024. In Q3 2024, 11.3% of all new listings were once available to rent, a sharp increase from 6.8% in Q3 2023. In total, 51,684 previously rented properties were listed in Q3 2024, compared to 28,507 the year before.
Inner London has been the epicentre of this shift, with 47.2% of all new for-sale properties previously rented, up from 27.1% in 2023. Although this trend is most pronounced in London, every region across the UK saw an increase in buy-to-let properties hitting the market.
Rise of Self-Employed and Hybrid Estate Agents
The self-employed model for estate agents is thriving, with self-employed agents seeing their market share of property exchanges grow by 8.1% in Q3 2024, compared to 2023. The model is particularly successful in higher-priced properties, with notable growth in the £200,000+ and £1 million+ price brackets.
Regions such as the South West, Scotland, and the West Midlands have seen over 50% growth in self-employed agent exchanges. Brands like eXp, The Agency UK, and Keller Williams are leading the charge, making self-employed agents a dominant force in the UK property market.
Katy Billany of TwentyEA notes that self-employed agents now collectively outnumber the two biggest traditional estate agency brands, Purplebricks and William H Brown, illustrating the appeal of the self-employed model.
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