Demand for detached

The latest data shows over 900,000 property transactions across England and Wales took place in the last 12 months. Terraced houses continue to have the highest volume of sales but 2023 has seen a sudden change for detached and semi-detached houses.

12 months ago, semi-detached houses accounted for 28% of sales and detached houses 22%. By the end of the year, the proportion of detached house sales had increased by 3.7% and semi-detached houses had decreased by 3.0%.

Price growth has remained fairly flat and so this shift is worthy of more analysis. It could indicate a number of things, such as a growing preference for larger homes or a more optimistic economic outlook, and is worth monitoring over the next few months.

According to Zoopla, a typical detached house with at least 4 bedrooms stays on the market for 47 days before the sale is agreed, in contrast to the national average of 34 days.

Source: #Dataloft, Zoopla, HMRC, Land Registry (12 months to November 2023)