One in six properties sold in March fetched more than the asking price, the estate and letting agents’ professional body NAEA Propertymark has reported.

This is the highest percentage of above-asking-price sales since May 2014.

Propertymark said demand increased to an average of 13 buyers for every property on the market. And there are now an average 409 prospective buyers registered with each estate agent branch, up from 388 in February.

The number of sales agreed reached the highest number for March since 2007. An average 12 sales were agreed by each estate agent branch in March, an increase of 1 on February and also the highest for the month of March since 2007.

The number of sales agreed per branch has now increased each month since December 2020, according to Propertymark’s Housing Report.

Propertymark also logged an increase in first-time-buyers – up 2 per cent on February to 27 per cent.

‘It is fantastic to see the property market continuing to thrive, fuelled by the announcement to extend the stamp duty holiday’, commented Propertymark chief policy adviser Mark Hayward.

‘It’s an extremely strong sellers’ market; properties are selling quickly and for over the asking price, and this is something we expect will continue in the coming months’.