Buyer and seller sentiment showed ‘remarkable resilience’ in August as consumer confidence remained robust, according to On The Market.

The property portal found that 73% of active buyers in the UK were confident that they would purchase a home within the next three months.

And over three-quarters (79%) of sellers in the UK were confident they’d sell their property within the next three months.

Over half (54%) of properties were Sold Subject to Contract (SSTC) within 30 days of first being advertised for sale, exactly the same proportion as a year earlier.

Mortgage confidence

In August 2022 only 4% of movers were concerned about securing a mortgage to fund the purchase of their next property, unchanged when compared to July 2022.

Greater London had the highest number of respondents who already had their mortgage Agreement In Principle in place prior to starting their search for a property (42%).

Chief executive officer of On The Market, Jason Tebb, said: “As we head into autumn, with the cost-of-living set to continue to rise, the expectation is that there may be less buyer competition for property. September tends to be the biggest listing month of the year after May, and with August seeing the highest stock levels since April 2021, this increase in the number of homes for sale may coincide with potentially fewer buyers. Some may decide not to move due to rising costs, whereas six months ago this may not have been the case.

“Despite all the evidence of a rebalancing of the market, confidence would appear to remain among serious property seekers. The resilience of the UK property-seeking public and how they feel about the market is remarkable, yet provides a key indicator in terms of how UK consumers perceive the long-term value of bricks and mortar.”

What buyers want

On The Market also looked at what people want from a home and found demand for outside space continued to be most important to buyers.

Off-street parking and a garage were the next highest priority buyer demands across the UK as a whole.