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Rightmove sees improved traffic to start the year
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
New data has revealed that the traffic to Rightmove’s website between Boxing Day and the end of the last week was up by 5% in comparison to the same period one year ago.
Full results will be provided when the firm reports to shareholders on its full year activity on February 24th.
Optimism
The portal states that the surge in activity from Boxing Day bodes well for 2017 as a whole, with factors such as Brexit to come.
‘This increase in search activity is notable given that a year ago market activity was buoyed by the November announcement that second home stamp duty would apply from April 2016,’ the portal said.[1]
In all, there was a 0.4% rise in the typical asking price of a property coming onto the market during the last month. This is equivalent to a rise of £1,086. Meanwhile, asking prices improved by 3.2% over the whole of 2016.
Rightmove sees improved traffic to start the year
Momentum
Miles Shipside, Rightmove Director and housing market analyst, observed that the increases, ‘are indicators of the continued market momentum from the Autumn. Demand for a suitable home is such that visits to the Rightmove website are still up by 5% year-on-year, despite being compared to a period that was boosted by high demand from buy-to-let investors rushing to beat the stamp duty deadline.’[1]
Yearly comparisons for the first three months of 2017, when available, will allow for the distortion caused by April’s stamp duty deadline. Here, transactions were up by 40%, as investors rushed to beat the deadline.
Shipside went on to say: ‘Those planning to buy their first home in 2017 have more choice and less competition from other buyers than their counterparts a year ago. It’s a possible learning point for aspiring first-time buyers that a year ago, buy to let purchasers acted more quickly and closed deals at a faster rate, appearing not to take a Christmas break.’[1]
[1] https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/1/rightmove-traffic-since-christmas-up-5-on-same-period-last-year
