Over two-thirds of UK listed properties were sold in the first 12 weeks of the year, data from TwentyEA shows, which matches 2019 pre-pandemic levels. 

The property data firm says 68% of homes were sold within three months, which signals “a return to normality”.    

It adds that new instruction volumes to date this year are broadly in line with 2022, lifting by 2.6%.   

However, supply is 7.7% lower than the pre-pandemic years of 2019 and 2020. 

The group also points out that agreed sales have fallen by 18.4% in the last year, while demand is 7.8% lower than 2019. 

TwentyEA strategic solutions director Stuart Ducker says: “The market is clearly returning to a pre-pandemic normal where in both 2019 and 2023, we have seen demand as a percentage of supply at 68%. 

“When looking at March 2023 in isolation, demand versus supply was 72% in 2023 versus 70% in 2019, so relative to supply, demand levels are stronger than they were the pre-pandemic. 

“It is clear that supply has been affected by price band, increasing in the two more expensive bands, but remained fairly flat in the £200,000 to £350,000 bracket, falling sharply in the under-£200,000 price bracket. 

Ducker adds: “Volumes of sales agreed has fallen substantially across all price brackets in the last year. 

“The lowest priced properties have seen the largest falls in demand, while in the £1m-plus bracket, demand has not fallen quite as much.”