"Our gauge of new-build homebuyer demand suggests that the appetite for new homes has remained largely consistent throughout the first three months of the year when compared to the same period in 2024"
- Iain Halls - Ceres Property
The latest analysis from Ceres Property has shown that whilst overall demand for new homes fell marginally during the first three months of this year, some major cities have seen a considerable increase in buyer appetites for new-build property purchases.
The New-Build Demand Index by Ceres Property monitors homebuyer demand for new-build homes across 20 major cities in Britain on a quarterly basis. Current demand is based on the proportion of stock listed as already sold (sold subject to contract or under offer) as a percentage of all stock listed for sale. (E.g, if 100 homes are listed and 50 are already sold, the demand score would be 50%.)
The latest index for Q1, 2025, shows that across Britain as a whole, almost a fifth of all new homes listed for sale across the market in Q1 had found a buyer (18.4%).
This marked a marginal reduction in demand of -0.7% when compared to Q1 2024, however, a number of major cities have seen new-build homebuyer appetites increase on an annual basis.
Nowhere more so than Aberdeen, where new-build homebuyer demand was up 14.3% in Q1 2024 versus this time last year. In fact, it’s a Scotland top three where the largest increase in buyer demand for new homes is concerned, with Edinburgh (+4.1%) and Glasgow (+3.6%) also making the top three.
Outside of Scotland, Manchester has seen the largest increase in the appetite for new homes, with demand up 3.2% in Q1 2024 versus Q1 2023.
Nottingham (+1.9%) and Leicester (+1.5%) have also seen positive movement in this respect.
However, when it comes to the hottest markets for current new-build homebuyer demand, Southampton ranks top, where 29.1% of all new-build homes currently listed for sale have found a buyer.
Over one in five new homes listed for sale in the current market have also been snapped up across Bournemouth (22.4%), Sheffield (22.4%), Bristol (21.2%) and Newport (21.2%).
“Our gauge of new-build homebuyer demand suggests that the appetite for new homes has remained largely consistent throughout the first three months of the year when compared to the same period in 2024," says Iain Halls, Partner at Ceres Property.
He adds, "Of course, buyer activity does fluctuate when analysing the market on a more granular level; however, across a number of major cities, there has been an increase in the number of new-build homes securing a buyer so far this year.
"The impending stamp duty deadline has almost certainly played a part and it’s likely that many buyers will be sitting tight until the dust has settled. However, with the expectation of further improvements to mortgage affordability levels over the coming months, 2025 is looking to be an even more positive year for the new homes sector, and we expect to see demand for new-build properties climb as the year progresses.”
