Sellers should be prepared to adjust their price expectations if they want to sell, it has been claimed- as figures show a 15% increase in the number of homes for sale.

There are now some 720,540 properties for sale across the market, a 9% increase on the same time this year and a 15% increase compared to the first quarter of 2023.

House Buyer Bureau today said buyers were acting with ‘little enthusiasm’ in a stagnant market and warned a natural drop in property values would follow.

New data has revealed the most oversaturated areas of the country, with Bristol the only place in England to buck the trend and experience a drop in sale stock. The number of homes for sale there has fallen by 9% since the first quarter of this year and 21% compared to last year.

Elsewhere, Rutland has the most oversaturated property market so far this year, with a 26% increase of sale stock now compared to the start of the year. Herefordshire was next with 22%, followed by Wiltshire (21%), Dorset (21%) and Somerset (20%). Cumbria (19%), Oxfordshire (19%), Devon (18%), Surrey (18%) and Worcestershire (18%) make up the rest of the top ten.

The largest annual increase was in the Isle of Wight where sale stock has increased by 27%. It was followed by Shropshire (25%), Lincolnshire (24%), Herefordshire (24%) and Cornwall (24%).

Chris Hodgkinson, managing director of House Buyer Bureau, today said the oversaturated market was good news for buyers but certainly not for sellers.

“With the exception of Bristol, every county in England has seen the level of available for sale stock climb since the start of the year and this demonstrates the altogether different landscape sellers are facing when compared to 2022,” he said.

“Buyers are acting with far less enthusiasm and, as a result, homes are taking longer to sell, or attracting little to no attention whatsoever.

“This has inevitably led to an oversaturation of for sale stock and this will naturally cause a further reduction in property values as the bidding wars of the pandemic boom fade into memory.

“So while this may be good news for the nation’s buyers, those looking to sell are facing a far tougher challenge. Many are unwilling to adjust their price expectations, but this is the reality they face if they want to sell their home quickly and before any further dent to property values materialises.”