- Cold weather, Article 50 being triggered and the PM announcing snap General Election could be to blame for quiet April
- Biggest supply rises: Newquay (69%), Oldham (42.4%) and Nuneaton (39.3%)
- Biggest supply falls: Runcorn (-33.9%), Doncaster (-31.1%) and Woking (-28.6%)
London, 10 May 2017 — April is traditionally a buoyant time for the property market and a strong Spring period often sets the tone for the rest of the year. But a combination of the cold weather and political uncertainty seems to have scared off sellers from marketing their properties last month, according to the latest UK Property Supply Index from HouseSimple.com.
Property supply fell 4% in April at a time when you would normally expect the number of new properties being listed to rise. The lack of new listings last month could be due to a number of factors, including an unusually cold spell that has swept the country, Theresa May triggering Article 50 at the end of March and then following that up by announcing a snap General Election mid April.
Accroding to HouseSimple.com figures, some towns/cities like Runcorn, in the North West (supply down 33.9%) and Doncaster, in South Yorkshire (supply down 31.1%) saw a supply drought. While other areas such as Newquay, in the South (supply up 69%), experienced the traditional boost in supply we would expect this time of the year.
To compile the Property Supply Index, HouseSimple looks at data from more than 500,000 listed properties* to track the number of new properties marketed every month in more than 100 major towns and cities across the UK and all London boroughs.
The following table shows the ten UK towns and cities that experienced the biggest increases in new property listings in April versus March:
| Town/City | Region | % rise in new listings in April vs. March |
| Newquay | South | 69.0% |
| Oldham | North West | 42.4% |
| Nuneaton | West Midlands | 39.3% |
| Nottingham | East Midlands | 38.9% |
| Exeter | South West | 33.6% |
| King’s Lynn | East | 33.3% |
| Northampton | East Midlands | 30.2% |
| Perth | Scotland | 28.3% |
| Oxford | South East | 25.2% |
| Norwich | East | 23.8% |
The following table shows the ten UK towns and cities that experienced the biggest decreases in new property listings in April versus March:
| Town/City | Region | % fall in new listings in April vs. March |
| Runcorn | North West | -33.9% |
| Doncaster | South Yorkshire | -31.1% |
| Woking | South East | -28.6% |
| St Helens | North West | -27.0% |
| Gloucester | South West | -24.4% |
| Shrewsbury | West Midlands | -24.1% |
| Huntingdon | East | -24.1% |
| Rochdale | North West | -23.9% |
| Taunton | South West | -23.9% |
| Liverpool | North West | -23.7% |
London
Supply rose just 1.5% overall in London in April, but across the boroughs, new property listings varied significantly, with Lewisham seeing new listings grow by 76% compared to Haringey where supply fell by 21.2%.
The following table shows the five London boroughs that experienced the biggest increases in new property listings in April versus March:
| London Borough | % fall in new listings in April vs. March |
| Lewisham | 76.0% |
| Ealing | 55.7% |
| Hounslow | 52.9% |
| Wandsworth | 52.3% |
| Hackney | 38.9% |
The following table shows the five London boroughs that experienced the biggest decreases in new property listings in April versus March:
| London Borough | % rise in new listings in April vs. March |
| Haringey | -21.2% |
| Barking and Dagenham | -19.9% |
| Sutton | -19.2% |
| Tower Hamlets | -16.7% |
| Newham | -15.8% |
Alex Gosling, CEO of online estate agents HouseSimple.com, comments: “The property market doesn’t like uncertainty and triggering Article 50 and announcing a snap General Election shortly after is a huge amount of uncertainty for sellers to digest. The good news for the property market is that this Election doesn’t appear to be a close-run affair so it’s likely that any negative impact on the property market will be short-lived.
“If the market is a little slower up until the General Election on June 8, then it’s likely after the result is known, there will be a boost in supply, with sellers looking to find buyers before the summer kicks in and everyone heads off on holiday. But if sellers need to move then they shouldn’t hold off until after the Election hoping that market conditions will change radically after the result.”