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 comparative decrease on the previous week, with 12,568 fewer properties being registered.

Properties changing status to SSTC saw a comparative decrease on the previous week, with 9,276 fewer properties being updated as SSTC.

Withdrawals saw a comparative decrease on the previous week, with 4,973 fewer properties being withdrawn.

Fall-throughs saw a comparative increase on the previous week, with 1,166 additional properties changing status from SSTC back to For Sale.

The top ten most impacted postcode areas for fall throughs in this period were: E17, BN2, CT9, NG5, SS9, LU7, DA1, SS6, WA4 and BN3.

Commenting on the period, 26.09.2020 – 02.10.2020, BriefYourMarket.com’s Chief Commercial Officer, Richard Combellack, said:

“The UK property market continues to see unprecedented levels of activity. New listings coming to market have now remained above 64,000 for the last 12 weeks. Properties changing status to SSTC have also remained well above average for the last four weeks now; holding firmly above 60,000.

“As expected with this level of activity, we are starting to see an incremental increase in withdrawal and fall-through rates, with the latter reaching its highest rate in 27 weeks. As I previously mentioned, I think it was inevitable that fall-though rates would begin to rise.

“The post-lockdown pent-up demand – coupled with the government’s stamp duty initiative – meant that agents and the financial service market were immediately placed on the backfoot when the market was reopened; overwhelmed with the wave of sellers who were in the process of moving or waiting for restrictions to be lifted, combined with a new surge of sellers who are looking to take advantage of the substantial stamp duty savings on offer.

“It does seem that the recent stamp duty ‘call to arms’ from agents relating to listing before the 26^th September to take advantage of the savings for sellers has worked extremely well through. Week 39 saw the number of new listings coming to market hitting a new 2020 record; with a total of 81,825 properties being listed in the period between the 19th and 25th September.

“I would naturally conclude that the dramatic fall in new listings last week – when compared to the 19th and 25th September – was directly related to the revised national and regional lockdown restrictions injecting new uncertainty into the market.

“However, new listings are still extremely healthy, and have been for some time now. It has actually been over 18 weeks since we saw new listings drop below 50,000 per week. However, I think the true resilience of the market will start to show in the next fortnight or so if SSTC begins to slow.

“In terms of marketing, we’re seeing agents offering more advisory marketing information than ever before, especially relating to how sellers can help to prevent holding up their sale when it comes to instructing a solicitor as early as possible, and completing documentation in advance.

“There is little doubt that it’s a great time to sell but sellers should understand that they must now factor in at least another month in their plans to allow for delays caused by the level of demand in the market.

“The role of a great estate agent has always been vital to a quick and successful sale. However, now more than ever, both sellers and buyers need to work closely with an agent that can set clear expectations, objective actions, and progress transactions as quickly and amicably as possible to keep all parties happy.”

SSTC: (Total = 66,619) -13% decrease when compared to the previous week, with 9,276 fewer properties being updated as SSTC.

Busiest day in this period was Wednesday 30th September when 23,757 properties were updated as SSTC.

Withdrawn: (Total = 11,161) – 36.4% decrease when compared to the previous week, with 4,973 fewer properties being withdrawn.

Busiest day in this period was Wednesday 30th September when 6,364 properties were withdrawn.

Fallen through: (Total = 7,302) +17.3 increase when compared to the previous week, with 1,166 additional properties falling through.

Busiest day in this period was Wednesday 30th September when 2,489 properties fell through.

Count on market: (Total = 69,257) -16.6% decrease when compared to the previous week, with 12,568 fewer properties being listed.

Busiest day in this period was Friday 2nd October when 17,306 properties were registered.

The BriefYourMarket.com Property Index is published fortnightly.