It’s been difficult year for many estate agents as the UK housing market has only slowly begun to shake off high interest rates, but comparison website GetAgent has revealed which areas have seen the highest number of transactions.
Areas where affordability feature in the list including Scotland followed more predictably by the South East but also the North West of England are proving to be the most active areas of the UK property market.
In terms of number of sales completed this year Scotland saw 54,428 transactions or 15% of the national total. The South East is in second place, accounting for 14% of all transactions this year and the North West comes next at 11%. In contrast, Northern Ireland has seen 12,215 homes sold – just 3.4% of the national total.
Selling hotspot
Analysing the market at a local authority level, the figures show Belfast is the home-selling hotspot of the UK. The city has seen 7,333 homes sold so far this year, with Edinburgh and Glasgow ranking second and third.
In England, Leeds has sold the most homes (3,994), followed by Birmingham (3,864). In Wales, Cardiff saw the highest level of market activity with 1,826 sales.
It’s been a year of increasing positivity for the UK property market.”
GetAgent.co.uk’s founder Colby Short, says: “It’s been a year of increasing positivity for the UK property market however the nation’s estate agents have still had to traverse an increasingly tricky landscape, as buyers continued to contend with affordability constraints caused by higher mortgage rates.
“Despite this, the general consensus amongst agents is that they are on course to complete on a similar level of sales as we’ve seen in previous years, with Q4 set to be an incredibly busy one now that another Stamp Duty deadline is in place.
“As a result, we expect 2025 to begin with a flurry of market activity, however, it remains to be seen as to whether this pace will last once stamp duty relief thresholds are removed in April of next year.”