Three-quarters (76%) of active buyers in the UK are confident they will purchase a property within the next three months, said OnTheMarket.com.

And 82% of sellers are confident they’ll sell their property over the same time period, according to the property portal.

It said that the high levels of buyer and seller confidence in April are consistent with the previous two months, plus there’s strong evidence emerging of a more stable housing market, settling into ‘a new normal’.

Moving quickly

More than six in 10 (63%) of properties were Sold Subject to Contract (SSTC) within 30 days of first being advertised for sale, compared with 54% in April 2021. This ranged from 50% of properties sold within 30 days of first being listed in London to 79% of newly listed properties in Scotland.

And only 4% of movers were concerned (either very worried or slightly concerned) about securing a mortgage to fund the purchase of their next property.

Chief executive officer of OnTheMarket.com, Jason Tebb, said: “The number of properties newly listed for sale is slowly increasing and supply/demand economics suggest that if this continues, price growth will moderate. If there’s more choice of properties for sale and buyer numbers remain consistent, or even start to drop off, there could be a levelling off in activity and prices.

“However, the fundamental lack of stock at the present moment means that values will hold at a certain level.

“While there may be further challenges to come, for now our data shows strong confidence from both buyers and sellers, which is continuing to fuel the UK housing market. There are many reasons why people need to move and there are plenty looking to do so.”