The availability of housing stock on the UK market has almost halved in a decade, with house prices set to rise during 2016 as demand remains high.

Summary:

• The amount of available property on the UK market has fallen by almost 50% in 10 years
• There is an average of 37 properties on sale per estate agent in the entire country
• Low supply, record-low interest rates and low unemployment will fuel further house price growth in 2016

The supply of available property to buy in the UK has almost halved in 10 years.

The average amount of property available per every estate agent branch in December fell to 37, the latest housing market report from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) found.

It is the joint lowest figure for 2015, along with September, and almost half the number of properties that were available to buy in December 2005, when there were 72 houses per branch.

The news comes as Nationwide predicts an impending acceleration in UK house price growth. Continued low supply, combined with record-low interest rates and low unemployment, could encourage further house-buying and increase demand.

Mark Hayward, NAEA Managing Director, commented: “The issue of lack of supply needs to be solved, but it isn’t going to be done anytime soon. We are still waiting to see new homes being built and whilst we wait, house prices continue to rise. The number of home buyers on the books has been gradually increasing.”

Low supply affected the number of sales in December, with an average seven properties sold per estate agent branch, the lowest recorded in 2015. The number of interested buyers has increased year-on-year, despite a seasonal dip in December where house hunters fell from 374 to 403.

Source:: Select Property