Estate agents reported a 3.5% increase in the properties for sale during the past month, according to the latest Zoopla House Price Index. This recent research attributes the increase in supply to existing homeowners looking to lock in recent price gains in house prices.
Looking to the wider market housing demand remains elevated, up 12.4% on this time last year.
The number of sales agreed is also up, rising 10.1% year-on-year, however the total quantity of stock is down 13.8% compared to 12 months prior.
Meanwhile, sellers are reluctant to list homes for sale while the third lockdown continues, maintaining upward pressure on prices which are up 4.3% annually.
Ahead of the Budget on 3 March, Zoopla believes there is evidence that landlords are looking to take gains ahead of possible reforms to Capital Gains Tax, as well as changing rental market dynamics.
Zoopla noted that while 750,000 homemovers should benefit from full or partial SDLT relief, 70,000 sales are expected to miss out due to the increased time it is taking to process transactions if the deadline remains as 31 March.