Exceptional levels of demand for estate agency services were maintained in the past week, although new enquiry levels cooled slightly from the July peaks that had sent agents scurrying in all directions to secure new business after months of coronavirus lockdown,  the latest data from the Yomdel Property Sentiment Tracker (YPST) shows.

New vendor and buyer demand remained at stellar levels of 96% and 84%, respectively, above the same week in 2019, while landlords were also 39% above a year earlier. Despite new regional and localised covid-19 restrictions being imposed in some areas in England, consumer sentiment remained strong.

For the week ending midnight 2 August, estate agency website traffic remained extremely high at 29% above the 62-week pre-covid-19 average, while the numbers of people using live chat on estate agent websites a were 80% above the pre-covid-19 average, and lead volumes overall were up 111% in the same period.

“Everywhere you look estate agents are rushing to try and make up for lost time and secure their new business pipelines. And business is clearly being done with properties coming to market at an incredible rate,” said Andy Soloman, Yomdel founder and CEO.

“Customers are pushing hard to get listed ASAP as the clock is ticking on the government’s stamp duty holiday, and we’re seeing really strong demand from buyers seeking to move out of London and other major cities. Lockdown and the huge growth in remote working is making lifestyle choices seem both more attractive and achievable in ways never seen before,” he added.

The YPST methodology establishes a base line average shown as 100% or 100, calculated according to average engagement values over the 62 weeks prior to the lockdown, and plots movements from there according to the volumes of people engaging in live chat, their stated needs, questions asked, and new business leads generated. Data is measured over full 24-hour periods.

New vendors fell for the second week but remain at record levels with valuation enquiries 8.51%, or 18.43 points, lower on the week, at 198.55, or 99% above the pre-covid-19 62-week average.

Buyers dropped 6.32%, or 12.25 points, to close at 181.55, some 82% above pre-covid-19 average.

Landlords dipped slightly, and were down 2.35%, or 3.25 points, down to end the week at 134.82, still 35% above the pre-covid-19 average.

Demand from tenants continued to cool, with new enquires now more than 2% lower than the same week in 2019. They ended the week 2.33% down, or 3.31 points, at 138.69, but still some 39% above the pre-covid-19 average.

“It’s really busy out there and the cooling is only natural. Like an Olympic sprinter, everyone needs to pause for breath at some point. But make no mistake here the new business opportunities for estate agents are still off the scale and show no sign of dropping just yet,” said Soloman.

“Online is ruling the roost as well, the volumes of people on estate agent websites remain at all-time highs, and the message is clear: people are seeking out their agents online and that is certainly not going to change back,” he added.

The Yomdel Property Sentiment Tracker is exclusive to EYE and is published fortnightly.