The number of available properties per member branch has increased by 47% since winter last year while demand has risen by 79% over the same period, the latest Propertymark housing insight report reveals.

The data shows that the number of agents reporting average price agreed at or above the asking price had held steady since July when there was a minor fall compared to June. 

Propertymark says this shows that the “winds are still blowing in the seller’s favour, if not quite as strong as before”. 

Month-on-month there has also seen a slight increase in new prospective tenants registered and instructions, suggesting that the autumn market has started a little early,.

The number of new buyers registering per member branch in August went up slightly compared to July, which the report says indicates the start of a pickup for the autumn season. 

There were 86 new prospective homebuyers registered per member branch in August.

Meanwhile, there were 11 new instructions on average per member branch last month, which have been fairly steady since December last year.

The average number of properties available to buy per member branch was 28 last month, which showed a marginal increase since the winter dip but still below the pre-pandemic average of 40 properties available in August.

However, it represents an increase of nine per member branch since December last year, a rise of 47%.

Last month, Propertymark reported that some buyers were starting to secure homes under the asking price, with 27% of branches now reporting that most sales were completed below the asking price compared to a low of just 15% in March.