Property technology company Coadjute reports a continued rise in front-end sales activity since the Covid crisis with sales enquiries up by 54% and viewings booked up by 15%, just 7% shy of pre-lockdown levels.

An industry group formed by Coadjute – the Blockchain leader in PropTech – of leading property software businesses, including Redbrick Solutions, suggests that the UK housing market continues to recover with another strong rise in sales activity, accompanied by an increase in exchanges and completions.

Registrations for applications were up 12% week-on-week, now the second indicator (along with sales enquiries) to reach figures last recorded before lockdown. Sales enquiries registered a more modest rise of just 1% but still a significant 54% higher than pre-lockdown volumes. Properties registered for sale recorded strong gains too, up 9% week-on-week. The report also shows sales offers continuing to climb, this week by 5%.

The analysis comes from Coadjute’s new Property Market Insights report, compiled with industry leaders including Dezrez, Legal Marketing Services, MRI Software, Reapit, Redbrick Solutions and Search Acumen, covering over 50% of UK estate agents and a material number of conveyancing firms. The new report is intended to provide unprecedented breadth and detail on every aspect of estate agent and conveyancer workflow from initial sales enquiries through to viewings, exchange and completion, and is designed to help property businesses align their operations as activity returns to the market.

This continued strength is reflected in conveyancing data with gains across almost all indicators. Quotations are now at their highest levels, eclipsing pre-lockdown volumes, and activations are less than 20% off ‘normal’ levels and climbing in line with the rise in quotations. This is supported by a rise in exchanges, in proportion to those reported in previous weeks, all indicative of law firms ‘getting back to business’. Exchanges saw an increase of 7% week-on-week, although sales completions registered a reduction of 11%, most likely due to the reduced volumes during the crisis now working their way through the pipeline.

Martin MacDuff, Managing Director at Redbrick Solutions said, “It’s essential to the UK economy that the housing market with all its facets gets moving again as soon as possible. We’re proud to be working with Coadjute and keen to do what we can to assist a positive and successful return to business as normal.”

Dan Salmons, CEO at Coadjute says “Last week, ONS data showed how real estate was one of the least affected sectors in the UK economy due to Coronavirus. Our data from partners across the industry is giving the same message: the property market is back. The fact is, the need to move house didn’t go away during the crisis, and now that the property market is open for business again, buyers and sellers are rapidly returning in increasing numbers. It’s a credit to people across the property industry how quickly they have been able to adapt to the changing environment.”

Coadjute concludes that the upward trend shows no sign of relenting with growth across all key indicators and making strong gains towards pre-lockdown work volumes.