The number of sales agreed this month is the highest ever measured by Rightmove, it says in its latest monthly report.
It says that the housing sales activity figure is 38 per cent on last July and 20 per cent higher than that seen in March 2017, the previous record-holding month. The figures comes to £37 billion in total.
Rightmove adds that sales agreed for first-time buyers are up 29 per cent, for second steppers 38 per cent, and for ‘top of the ladder’ homes, 59 per cent.
The average national asking price is now, according to Rightmove, £319,497, which is a 0.2 per cent drop on the month and 4.6 per cent gain on an annual basis.
New asking price records were set in Scotland, Yorkshire & Humber, the East Midlands, the East of England, the North West, the West Midlands, and Wales.
As well as this, more listings came on to the market in July than has been seen since 2008. On a yearly basis, Rightmove records a 44 per cent jump. Large regional variations are evident though, as Rightmove director and housing market analyst Miles Shipside explains: “Those expressing most desire to move on are unsurprisingly in London and its commuter belt”.
London has 69 per cent more properties coming to market, with the South East at 60 per cent and the East at 56 per cent.
With work and transport patterns potentially changing most around the capital, commuter – belt properties need to have more appeal to prospective buyers than just proximity to a station. Many buyers do appear to be satisfying their new needs in these regions, as the number of sales agreed in each is also at a record level. The out of – city exodus has helped push prices to record levels in Devon and Cornwall, for example, where working from home means a different lifestyle much closer to your new doorstep.
Additionally, Rightmove reports that the house buying process has crept up too, as lending and legal sectors deal with the increased workload.
