Welcome to the latest edition of the TwentyCi Property & Homemover Report, providing a comprehensive review of the UK property market, created from the most robust residential research and property change sources available.

The report provides an end of the year 2023 summary, with unique insight into the people behind the numbers, creating a picture of the demographic, regional and socio-economic factors impacting the UK housing market, including:

• Factual data (not modelled or sentiment-based)
• Full market coverage
• Demographic overlay
• Property sales data
• Property rental data

The key headlines for 2023:

• In 2023, we saw 1,064k Sales Agreed, a fall of 12% compared to 2022. This correction is a direct consequence of the brake applied to the residential property market from the strong economic headwinds and the significant rise of interest rates and mortgage availability.

• On average, sellers across the UK achieved 96.6% of their original asking price, a decrease from the 99.4% achieved in 2022. The average asking price of property coming to market is £429k, up by £7k compared to 2022. (We must be mindful that this is reflective of the type of stock available on the market.)

• The market share for Online/Hybrid agent exchanges continues to fall. The rise of the Self-Employed agent has entered the mix and now accounts for nearly 13% of New Instructions in Q4 2023 within this category.

“The housing market is holding up rather well despite everything being thrown at it. I am not saying all is rosy in the garden, rather given the circumstances 2023 could have been a whole lot worse. There is still a lot of uncertainty both in the housing market and the economy generally and yet there are some good signs that the market is both robust and, moreover, will stay that way in 2024. It is likely that we have not yet seen the full impact of the interest rate rise “price shock” on mortgage availability and affordability due to fixed-rate products, but the market fundamentals seen to date, indicate strong potential for 2024.” 

Colin Bradshaw – TwentyCi’s Chief Executive Officer