The housing market shows little signs of a seasonal slowdown across many parts of the country, as buyers attempt to take advantage of favourable market conditions.

A number of estate agents have seen an uplift in buyer enquiries in recent weeks compared to the corresponding period last year.

The continuous demand from property buyers has, however, led to a shortage of properties for sale, which in turn is placing upward pressure on property prices.

Guy Gittins, CEO of Chestertons, which has 32 branches across London, said: “Our offices reported a 30% drop in the number of sellers willing to drop their asking price, which has led to market conditions remaining extremely competitive.

“Another side effect of the strong buyer demand is that house hunters are also required to act more swiftly than usual in order to secure their ideal home. Due to demand outstripping supply, we have seen properties being snapped up much faster compared to previous years.”

With property prices rising, the value of British housing stock has hit £9.5trn, according to property portal Zoopla.

Residential property prices grew by 7.1% in November, the property portal said, meaning the average house has now gained around £16,000 in value over the last 12 months.

Residential property prices in nearly every region of the UK have risen this year by more than in 2019 and 2020 combined. Meanwhile average values are up by more than the last three years combined in four UK regions – the South East, South West, East of England and the North East, where prices have risen by £23,500, £23,000, £20,400 and £8,300 respectively in the last 12 months alone.

Grainne Gilmore, head of research, Zoopla, commented: “This year has been a record year for the market, with the stamp duty holiday and the pandemic-led ‘search for space’ among homeowners resulting in the highest number of sales since  before the financial crisis, with 1.5 million transactions.

“However such a busy market eroded the number of homes available to buy, as properties were being snapped up so quickly. This imbalance between demand and supply has put upwards pressure on prices.  On average, home values are up £16,000 on the year, but our data shows that millions of homeowners have seen a larger uplift than this during the course of 2021.

“This uplift in equity may act as a spur for more households to consider a move in 2022, further boosting the seasonal post-Christmas bounce in activity that traditionally occurs before the New Year.”

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