UK property market stands firm despite economic crisis

Amid rising interest rates, inflation and a Cost of Living crisis, there’s a lot to be cynical about with the current state of the UK economy. But where does this all leave the property market?

While many experts have predicted the property market to return to pre-pandemic levels before year’s end, our Homebuyer Hotspot’s Demand Index paints a different picture - that the market is putting up a hell of a fight despite economic uncertainty.

The GetAgent Hotspots Demand Index monitors homebuyer demand across England on a quarterly basis. Our latest Index suggests that buyer demand levels have remained firm during the second quarter of 2022, despite rising economic pressure from inflation and successive interest rate increases.

How does the Homebuyer Hotspots Demand Index work?

On a quarterly basis, we monitor homebuyer demand across England. Current demand is based on the proportion of stock listed as already sold (Sold subject to contract or under offer) as a percentage of all stock listed for sale. For example, if 100 homes are listed online, but 50 were already sold, the demand score would be 50%.

Homebuyer Hotspots Demand Index 2022 - Q2

Our latest Index suggests that across England, buyer demand is currently at 63%. This is only -1% less than the first quarter of the year, where demand was 64%. Clearly, the market is yet to feel the effects of the economic pressure facing the rest of the economy.

The Hottest Homebuyer Spots

The hottest homebuyer spot in the UK market can be found in Bristol, where buyer demand sits at a whopping 78%. That’s over 15% higher than the country’s average.

Northamptonshire follows with a score of 72%, while Bath and North East Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Hampshire stand at 70%.

London calling: Homebuyer demand returns to capital

While London remains the coldest spot in the property market (48%), along with the City of London (25%), there are signs that momentum is beginning to build. Demand across London increased by +7% between the first and second quarter of this year, the largest quarterly increase of all areas in England.

Our Co-Founder and CEO, Colby Short had this to say:

“Despite wider economic turbulence, the property market has continued to perform very well so far this year and house prices remain at all time highs due to the imbalance between homebuyer demand and available stock.

In fact, demand levels remain extremely high across the majority of the market and it seems that not even the threat of increasing interest rates and record levels of inflation can deter the nation’s homebuyers from their aspirations of homeownership.

While the London property market has been decidedly more muted of late when compared to the rest of the UK, we’re now seeing almost half of all homes listed for sale being snapped up which suggests that the capital is far from on its knees.”

Methodology and data

Data sourced from the major property portals during Q2, 2022, with demand based on the number of properties already sold subject to contract or under offer as a percentage of total properties listed.