HOUSING demand has dipped to a 12-month low, says the industry body for estate agents.

The summer holiday season pushed down demand for homes in August, according to NAEA Propertymark (the National Association of Estate Agents).

The number of properties on the market rose ever so slightly, while sales to first-time buyers and the number of sales agreed stayed the same.

The trade body says that, as holidaymakers set off abroad in August, the number of house hunters registered at estate agents dropped to a year-long low, with 343 per branch on average. This was down from 347 in July and 284 in June. The figure has not been so low since August 2016, when estate agents had 287 house hunters registered per branch.

The number of properties available to buy on estate agents’ books increased marginally from 35 in July, to 37 in August.

The proportion of sales made to first-time buyers remained at 23 per cent in August, having fallen from 30 per cent in June.

As expected during the summer, the number of sales agreed per branch also remained low in August, with eight on average per branch.

Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark, said: "House hunters tend to put their plans on hold over the summer months while they prioritise holidays, and as a result of this trend stock is usually lower.

"However, while we saw the number of properties available increase very marginally last month, it wasn’t remotely enough to start to close the gap between supply and demand.

"We shouldn’t take August’s decline as a sign of things to come - we’ll see the market bounce back in September and ramp up towards the end of the year as house buyers desperately try to complete transactions before Christmas.”