The data reveals the changing demand for new-build homes across 22 major cities across the UK between Q4 2021 and Q1 2022 by studying the ratio of new homes already sold subject to contract or under offer as a percentage of all new-build stock listed for sale.
Across the UK, new-build demand in Q1 2022 stands at 35.5%, an increase of 1.8% since the previous quarter.
Nowhere is buyer appetite for new builds growing more than in Cardiff where they’ve already snapped up 50% of available properties marking a quarterly increase of 28%.
In Oxford, demand has risen by 12.9%; in Southampton, it’s up 11.7%, and in Birmingham, the quarterly rise is 8.8%.
In some cities, however, new-build demand is falling. In Portsmouth, it’s declined by -16.7%; in Manchester, it’s down -14.1%; and in Plymouth, it’s dropped by -11.6%.
What do these changes mean for overall demand figures?
Well, nowhere is demand currently higher than in Bournemouth, the UK’s new-build hotspot, where buyers have already jumped on 68.8% of listed properties, followed by Southampton (63.1%), Bristol (62.7%), Plymouth (55.9%), and the two Welsh cities of Cardiff and Swansea, where demand stands at 50%.
Lee Martin, Head of UK for Unlatch, says: “The UK’s new-build market is performing very well at present and we’ve seen 2022 start strongly where the appetite for new-build homes is concerned. There are a myriad of factors driving this new-build popularity, with a lack of housing stock driving this demand as buyers are snapping up homes as quickly as they reach the market.
"However, it’s fair to say that the rising cost of living is currently looming large in buyers’ minds and this is no doubt having an influence as well.
"New builds provide excellent energy efficiency which significantly reduces household bills and they also offer an improved level of sustainability at a time when the climate is a big concern for all.
"Therefore, many current homebuyers recognise that while a new-build may cost them an initial premium, the long term cost benefits outweigh this initially higher cost.”
