Demand for houses in Sheffield spirals despite rocketing prices

Almost three quarters of houses listed for sale have been sold, making Sheffield and South Yorkshire one of the nation’s property hotspots, figures show.

Demand is based on the proportion of stock listed as already sold – subject to contract or under offer - as a percentage of all stock listed for sale. For example, if 100 homes are listed and 50 are already sold, the demand score would be 50%.

South Yorkshire’s demand score is 71% compared to the average in England of 64%. The highest in the country is 75% in Northamptonshire.

That is despite the house prices rising across Sheffield, sometimes by 30%, with the average city price now around £191,000.

The figures cover July to September this year and are from the latest Homebuyer Hotspots Demand Index. It is done by estate agent comparison site GetAgent.co.uk. and suggests the appetite for home ownership shows no sign of slowing down, making it a seller’s market.

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk Colby Short said: “It is no secret how strong homebuyer demand has been pretty much since the market reopened for business at the start of last year and despite the expiry of the stamp duty holiday, there’s no signs of this heightened activity slowing anytime soon.

“Our latest gauge of buyer demand shows that there is still a remarkable appetite for homeownership across the length and breadth of the nation and with the market continuing to move at such breakneck speeds, it’s no surprise that house prices are still rising.

“For sellers, this should be very welcome news indeed as the chances of finding a motivated buyer who is willing to offer a fair price remain very good indeed.”

Of the 49 English counties analysed, 36 experienced homebuyer demand above and beyond the national average during the three months.

Furthermore, of the 13 counties where demand did lag behind the national average, only two dropped below 50%. They were the City of London where demand averaged 22.4%, and Greater London where demand averaged 44.2%, while Oxfordshire was home to the third-lowest demand level at 58%.