New analysis by a peer-to-peer investment platform reveals that homebuyer appetite for new-build properties dropped 1.1% in the past quarter.

easyMoney’s review for Q3 2024 looks at 20 major British cities. It shows 18.8% of new-build homes listed for sale across Britain’s major cities had already found a buyer, sold subject to contract (SSTC).

This marks a 1.1% reduction since Q2 2024, and an annual decline of 1.2%.

Following on from a strong second quarter, Britain’s new-build demand hotspot for Q3 2024 is Southampton with 43.2% of all listings being SSTC.

This is followed by Bournemouth (43.1%), Portsmouth (26.1%), Plymouth (26%), and Bristol (23.7%).

In total, 11 cities have recorded positive quarterly growth, with Portsmouth (+11.8%) being followed by Bournemouth (+6.9%), Leicester (+6.1%), Swansea (+5.7%), Edinburgh (+3.7%), Glasgow (+3.2%), Bristol (+3.1%), Aberdeen (+2.7%), Cardiff (+1.7%), Newcastle (+0.9%), and Plymouth (+0.1%).

As new-build demand struggles to maintain upward momentum, stock levels are also trending down with quarterly and annual declines.

Across Britain, new-build stock fell by 0.2% in Q3 2024 which means new-builds currently account for 6.3% of all residential listings compared to 6.5% in Q2.

Just nine of the 20 cities studied have seen a quarterly increase in stock, and after Aberdeen’s rise of 2.8%, no others managed growth of much more than half a percent.

Meanwhile, nowhere has seen stock dwindle more than Plymouth where it’s down -0.5% on the quarter, followed by Leicester (-0.4%), Sheffield (-0.4%), and Bournemouth (-0.4%).

An easyMoney spokesperson says: “It’s certainly disappointing to see new-build demand take a dip in Q3 after recording an increase in Q2, we can attribute this to interest rates remaining stubbornly high which is deterring would-be buyers from taking the plunge into the market. This is especially true for the first-time buyer demographic which is particularly active within new-build sector.”