Demand remains robust as rents rise again

The number of new prospective tenants registering at each branch of a Propertymark-member lettings agency held steady at 106 in March, the tree body says in its latest market snapshot.

This figure is up from the December low of 64.

Meanwhile the number of properties available to rent per member branch remained stable at 10 in March. This translated into an average of 10 prospective tenants registering per available property over the same period.

Some 58 per cent of agents reported rents increasing month-on-month on average at their branch in March. Pressure on rents appears to be on the rise again as wage increases restore some relative affordability.

“The issue of undersupply remains with no movement seen in the number of properties available to rent. This on average is seeing an average of 10 registering prospective tenants per available property” says Propertymark chief executive Nathan Emerson.

On the sales side, the average number of new prospective buyers registered per member branch remained strong at 93 in March (94 in February). Strong demand since the start of the year suggests buyers have not been put off looking for a new home by rising interest rates.

The average number of viewings per property also remained steady in March. The average last month was 3.2 compared to a December low of 1.8.

Supply of new homes up for sale per member branch remained steady at 11 per branch in March. At the same time, the average number of sales agreed per member branch held at eight, which is the same as the pre-pandemic average (2014-2019).

Total stock of properties available per member branch continued to edge up in March and now stands at 35 on average per member branch. Total properties on the market is slowly returning to the pre-pandemic average of 39.

There was little change month-on-month with regard to prices agreed compared to asking price. In March, 75 per cent of responding agents reported that most sales were agreed below the asking price.

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