The UK-wide research showed 332,200 sales were agreed in Q3 24, which was 23% above 269,225 in Q3 23. 

This indicates that growth in transactions will continue into 2025 and shows that demand has remained unaffected by July’s parliamentary election. The findings are part of the latest quarterly Property and Homemover Report.  

All regions saw an uplift in sales agreed throughout the quarter, with the East of England and the East Midlands both experiencing increases of 28% compared with Q3 23. In terms of major cities to have benefited, Southampton, Peterborough and Birmingham saw the biggest percentage rises.    

At the same time, the supply of properties for sale for Q3 24 is higher than at any point in the last six years at 456,902, up from 419,807 in Q3 23 – a rise of 9%. Exchanges are also up by 10.9% compared to Q3 2023 as the market continues to bounce back.   

Katy Billany, executive director of TwentyEA, said: “The increase in sales is attributed to lower mortgage rates, which have fuelled a rise in demand among homebuyers. The Bank of England’s recent move to hold the base rate steady has also provided stability to the market. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the demand has not been affected by July’s parliamentary election. However, for some homeowners the financial duress brought about by fixed rate mortgages will be forcing a sale based on unaffordability.” 

The average asking price of residential properties for sale across the UK in Q3 2024 was £436K, up by £1.8k from Q3 2023 (0.4%) but notably down £20K from Q2 – a figure that reflects the mix of property stock coming to the market as a New Instruction and not necessarily the price realised.  

Price reductions on listings have been a key market feature in 2023 and 2024 and have increased by 8.6% from 2023, suggesting sellers continue to expect unrealistic prices in certain markets. Price reduction rates increased everywhere in the UK, except for Inner London, which saw just a 1% reduction. At the other end of the spectrum, Scotland’s price reduction rate rose from 18% in 2023 to 21% in 2024.  

Of all listings that have ended in 2024 to date, 38% had at least one price reduction. This figure was 36% in 2023 and 24% in 2022.  

Billany added: “As always confidence and sentiment underpin the market and while sales have increased a lot since last year, many prospective buyers will still be holding back until after Labour’s Budget which is now just weeks away. Exactly how this impacts property owners will dictate whether the market continues to accelerate”.   

Meanwhile, the number of properties for sale across the UK that were previously rented at some point in the last three years has risen considerably over the last year and has reached its highest level in a decade.  

In Q3 2024, 11.3% of all new properties listed for sale were found to have been available to rent at some point in the last three years. This number has increased considerably from 6.8% in Q3 2023 and from 8.9% in Q3 2019.    

In absolute numbers, a total of 456,902 properties came to market in Q3 24 across the UK, of which 51,684 were previously rented. In Q3 23, 419,807 properties were listed for sale with 28,507 having been prior rentals. In Q3 2019, 416,752 homes came to market and 36,964 had been previously let.  

The analysis showed this trend was most prevalent in Inner London. In Q3 2024, 47.2% of all new for-sale properties had been previously let, compared with 27.1% the previous year.   

While the trend is highly concentrated in Inner London, new figures show how every region of the UK saw an influx of previously rented properties into the sales market across July, August and September this year, compared with Q3 23.   

In the last ‘normal’ market of 2019, the figures show a similar picture with all regions having seen an uplift in the percentage of previously rented homes for sale with the exception of Scotland and Wales.   

The table below shows the percentage of Instructions listed for sale that were former rentals in the three years prior: