Estate agents have bolstered for sale stock levels by nearly 20% in some counties in England as overall market conditions continue to improve.

Research from eXp UK reveals that during the closing stages of last year (Q4, 2023), the total number of homes for sale across England sat at an estimated 665,986 – a 5% increase on the previous year, with almost 34,000 more homes listed for sale on Rightmove across the nation.

HOMES LISTED

The number of homes listed by the nation’s estate agents increased across 90% of English counties, with just Surrey, London, Berkshire, Durham and Bristol seeing a reduction.

Both the East Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire sit top of the table in this respect, with both counties having seen an 18% increase in the number of homes listed for sale on an annual basis.

Across Herefordshire, there were 16% more homes listed for sale on the market, while Shropshire and Northumberland saw a 15% increase. Other areas to make the top 10 include Cornwall (+14%), Derbyshire (+14%), Devon (+13%), Staffordshire (+13%) and Rutland (+13%).

CYCLICAL NATURE

Adam Day (main picture), Head of eXp UK, says: “Any estate agent worth their salt will know that times of uncertainty and downturn are part and parcel of working within the property market. But due to its cyclical nature, these times of hardship don’t last forever.

“It’s fair to say that the last year has been a testing one, but all things considered, the market remains in a very strong position and we’re now starting to see conditions improve with mortgage approval and house prices on the up.”

And he adds: “The very best agents will have been anticipating this return to form and rather than sit tight while the market was quiet, they will have been hard at work building their for sale stock portfolio.

“Now that buyers are starting to return, it’s these agents that are ready to hit the ground running and take advantage of improving market sentiment, rather than playing catch up.”