The latest (Q1 2023) Homemover Report by TwentiCi provides a comparison between Q1 2023 and Q1 2019, which is considered the last calendar year of normal residential property market conditions.

It found that the average asking price remains at £420,000, which is 24% higher than in Q1 2019, and that the significant fall in asking prices anticipated by many commentators has not materialised.

All regions have increased over the period but not all have benefitted equally, with gains varying between 11.8% in Inner London to 32% in Wales. Other regions where asking prices are much higher than four years ago include North West (29.8%), Yorkshire and The Humber (29.8%), South West (25.9%), and East Midlands (25.7%).

The imprint of the flight to rural and remote is still visible in these numbers, where changes to working practices caused by the pandemic prompted a demand for increased home space and consequently a spike in demand for properties further away from cities and traditional commuter belts.

However, the firm says that this trend is waning, which can be seen in the sales volumes. Sales agreed across the whole of the UK were on average 7.5% lower in Q1 2023, compared to Q1 2019.

However, sales are higher now in three regions: the North East (7.0%), Inner London (5.8%) and Scotland (1.4%).