The level of new housing stock entering the property market for sale has almost halved when compared to the closing stages of 2022, according to research by Barrows and Forrester.

The study also revealed that in some major cities, the reduction is as high as 84%.

Barrows and Forrester found 42,481 properties have come to market so far in 2023 – a considerable reduction of 46% when compared to the closing stages of 2022. However, in some areas of Britain, the declining level of new property stock is far more pronounced, and nowhere more so than in Scotland where it has fallen by 70%, with the city of Edinburgh seeing an 84% decline.

In the North West of England, the property pipeline has seen a 57% reduction, with a 64% drop in Liverpool specifically. London has seen new stock reaching the market drop by 57%, while the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber has experienced a drop of 54%. The East of England is home to the smallest reduction, with the level of new homes reaching the market for sale dropping by 32% when compared to the end of 2022.

At city level, it’s Bradford (-63%) and Glasgow (-61%) that have seen some of the largest reductions in new for-sale stock, with Newcastle seeing the smallest reduction (-20%).

James Forrester, managing director of Barrows and Forrester, commented: “As interest rates have continued to climb, the increasing cost of borrowing has dampened the enthusiasm of the nation’s homebuyers and they can no longer afford to match the high asking prices seen during the pandemic market boom.

“However, while the back end of 2022 brought a heightened level of market turbulence, we’re now seeing a far more settled picture and this is expected to continue as the year progresses. As a result, many sellers who may have otherwise entered the fray in the new year are opting to sit tight for the time being and this has caused the level of new stock reaching the market to plummet.”