The latest BriefYourMarket.com Property Index (analysing the combined on-market activity from Rightmove and Zoopla) has been published.

New properties coming to market last week saw a marginal comparative increase on the previous week, with 239 additional properties being registered.

Properties changing status to SSTC saw a comparative increase on the previous week, with 4,211 additional properties being updated as SSTC.

Withdrawals saw a comparative decrease on the previous week, with 1,135 fewer properties being withdrawn.

Fall-throughs saw a comparative increase on the previous week, with 1,889 additional properties changing status from SSTC back to For Sale.

The top ten most impacted postcode areas for fall throughs in this period were: CR0, BR6, NG3, NR31, SS9, BN3, CO15, LU2, NR33 and TN40.

Commenting on the period, 05.09.2020 – 11.09.2020, BriefYourMarket.com’s Chief Commercial Officer, Richard Combellack, said:

“Once again, a very positive week for the UK property market. It still seems that all potential home movers have one pertinent question on their minds’ right now: Is this a good time to buy or sell a property?

“I am going to attempt to offer a more balanced account of recent market activity, as it is very easy for us all to get carried away the action that we are seeing taking place. On the face of it, everything remains extremely positive: SSTC has remained above 55,000 for the last five weeks, and new properties coming to market have remained above 70,000 for the last three weeks now.

“So, sales are up, new instructions are up, and agents, lenders, and portal statisticians are all reporting modest house price increases in most regions of the UK. So, the general mood from agents seems to be one of continued enthusiasm. However, it is important remember that agents are operating in very surreal circumstances.

“On one side, buyers and sellers see that it is a really good time to consider making a move.

“On the other, the economic outlook grows more and more ominous as we move towards the back end 2020 and into 2021, with Furlough, mortgage payment holidays and the stamp duty holiday all coming to end (baring a major government rethink).

“I think it is fair to say that there is an unease between the confidence of today and the unknown of what’s to come tomorrow.

“It is to be expected that there will be a slowdown in activity as we reach the back end of the year. Right now, I would be preparing for two things.

“First up would be an early 2021 resurgence in January, February and March as people look to beat the clock on the stamp duty holiday. Stay in contact with all applicants and nurture all recent valuations that have not progressed to instruction.

“Secondly, I think that Q2 of 2021 will be a definitive business quarter for many agents.

“As the fallout of several government incentives begins to settle, it’s going to be vitally important for agents to have one eye on how they are going to prospective efficiently in what will be an extremely competitive market.”

SSTC: (Total = 60,762) +7.1% increase when compared to the previous week, with 4,211 additional properties being updated as SSTC.

Busiest day in this period was Wednesday 9th September when 23,313 properties were updated as SSTC.

Withdrawn: (Total = 9,375) -11.4% decrease when compared to the previous week, with 1,135 fewer properties being withdrawn.

Busiest day in this period was Wednesday 9th September when 6,378 properties were withdrawn.

Fallen through: (Total = 6,162) +36.2% increase when compared to the previous week, with 1,889 additional properties falling through.

Busiest day in this period was Wednesday 9th September when 2,122 properties fell through.

Count on market: (Total = 70,272) +0.3% increase when compared to the previous week, with 239 additional properties being listed. Busiest day in this period was Friday 11th September when 17,055 properties were registered.

The BriefYourMarket.com Property Index is published fortnightly.