Pandemic property market bust – The areas where market activity has dropped

Research from property purchasing specialist, HBB Solutions, has revealed which areas of the property market have experienced more of a pandemic market bust than a boom, with transaction volume sitting well below the levels seen prior to the pandemic.

HBB Solutions analysed the number of transactions to have completed across each area of England and Wales since January 2020 and how this level of market activity compares to the same time period prior.

The property market has boomed during the pandemic and, despite a huge backlog of delayed sales waiting to complete, almost 404,000 transactions have been completed across England and Wales since the start of 2020.

This is marginally lower than the 412,000 to have completed during the same time period prior to January 2020, however, some areas of the market have stuttered to a far greater extent.

Across the City of London, the number of properties sold during the pandemic has halved when compared to pre-pandemic market conditions. This drop in demand has been largely led by an exodus of buyers from the city centre due to Covid restrictions and work from home restrictions.

Newham also ranks as one of the worst hit areas of the property market, with transactions across the borough dropping by -30% since January 2020.

However, this trend hasn’t engulfed the whole of inner London and, at 13%, Kensington and Chelsea has actually seen the second largest increase in pandemic market activity when compared to the pre-pandemic benchmark.

Liverpool ranks third where a decline in pandemic market activity is concerned, with -28% less homes selling during the pandemic.

Salford and Dartford complete the top five where transactions are down -27%, with Newport (-26%), Cardiff (-25%), Nottingham (-24%), Torfaen (-23%) and Leicester (-22%) also making the top 10.

Managing Director of HBB Solutions, Chris Hodgkinson, commented:

“Despite the emergence of an incredibly hot market since the start of the pandemic, many areas of England and Wales have actually underperformed where the total level of property sales is concerned and when compared to their pre-pandemic benchmark

This is really down to two factors. The first being that the DNA of the market itself is incredibly diverse and so while topline performance may be strong, there’s no guarantee that you’ll find the same level of demand, or buyers willing to pay above the odds, from one area to the next.

The second, and perhaps most influential factor, is the huge delays currently being seen across the market, as heightened levels of buyer demand have overwhelmed the industry at the final legal stages.

So while homes are going under offer and selling subject to contract at incredible speed, these sales are taking far, far longer to actually complete. As a result, there’s a bottle neck of transactions waiting in limbo and this is impacting transaction totals in many areas of the market.”