There was a rise in the overall number of residential properties for sale in the UK last month, but a closer look at the figures show that the volume of homes available actually fell in almost half of towns and cities across the country.
Housing supply dropped in 50.4% of the towns and cities tracked by online estate agent HouseSimple.com, with the greatest declines recorded in Southport and Loughborough at 28% and 24.1%, respectively.
In contrast, the data reveals that towns in the Midlands saw the biggest hike in supply with Lichfield up 56% and Chesterfield up 36%.
The index shows that of the areas that saw the biggest decline in supply some 47% were in the North of England.
In London, property supply fell by 2.4% overall last month, with the City of Westminster witnessing the sharpest decline at 33%. The overall drop follows a decline of just 0.8% the previous month.
However, despite the overall fall in the capital, just over half – 53% – of the 32 boroughs in the city saw a rise in housing supply in May.
“Although property supply was up in May, in large swathes of the country, the number of new properties listed fell,’ said Alex Gosling, chief executive at HouseSimple.
The UK’s chronic housing shortage has sent property prices surging across the country in recent months, with the latest figures revealing that the average price of a home in the UK has increase by 8.2% year-on-year.