Could lack of housing supply mean less choice?

With new research revealing that there are now five house-hunters to every property currently on the market, Britons may find that there is not much choice when it comes to finding their dream home.

According to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), last month UK Estate Agents had an average of 57 properties on their books, a drop from the 62 recorded in September.

As a result, the group claims that demand from buyers is pushing up property prices as the gap between asking and selling prices fell from 10.9 per cent in September to 8.8 per cent in October.

This could mean that buying a home is still financially out of reach for some people.

President of the NAEA Gary Smith stated: "There is strong demand for property and more optimism in the housing market than we have seen for months. This is good news for the recovery of the market and for the UK economy in general."

However, Britons keen to wait until their perfect home comes on the market may wish to look for flats to rent in Eltham or another part of London until there is more choice.

Russell Jervis, managing director of haart, recently stated that property prices are likely to increase further in 2010.

Written by Charles Mackay

Published 6th November, 2009

© 2009 Estates IT Limited