Market kick starts with rise in visits, new listings and enquiries to agents on Rightmove

May 14, 2020
Rightmove logo
  • Visits to Rightmove were up 45% on Wednesday morning compared to the previous day following the government’s surprise announcement to reopen the housing market1
  • Email enquiries sent to agents rose by 70% now that physical viewings can again take place2
  • New listings are also starting to rise, with 2,115 new properties added in just five hours3

 

Early signs on Rightmove show a surge of home-mover activity now that the government has eased restrictions on moving home in England. Ahead of the announcement, activity was already starting to steadily recover, with yesterday (Tuesday 12th May) being the busiest day of lockdown for visits to Rightmove. The surprise announcement last night has ignited further interest.

 

Rightmove’s Housing Market Expert Miles Shipside commented: “These are clear signs that the news from the government has prompted more home-hunters to start looking for their next home, and we anticipate further uplift in activity once agents have time to adjust to the new social distancing guidance specific to the home moving sector. Home movers who have been eagerly waiting to take their home moving plans to the next stage should show some patience with agents given the unexpected announcement, to ensure there’s time to adapt to the new guidelines and ensure everyone is kept safe.”

 

Rightmove has created some guidelines on how to view property safely based on the government’s published guidance for home-movers, available at:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/articles/property-news/how-to-view-property-safely/

Rightmove

UK Property news updates shared directly from Rightmove PLC - the country's leading property portal.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

One in three mortgage hunting FTBs has at least 25% deposit

While higher loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages dominate first-time buyer demand a significant minority are seeking higher deposit deals, fresh data from Moneyfactscompare.co.uk can reveal. Of those looking for fixed term deals on moneyfactscompare.co.uk: Almost one in three (30%) first-time buyers are opting for 90% LTV mortgages, and a further 12% are looking at 95% LTV options. This…
Read More →
how to present your property for sale
Breaking News

Nationwide House Price Index for January 2026 – Industry Reaction

Nationwide House Price Index for January 2026. The latest index shows that: House prices increased by 0.3% between December 2025 and January 2026. This reversed the -0.4% monthly decline seen between November and December of last year. Annual growth sat at 1% in January 2026, with this annual rate of growth increasing from 0.6% in…
Read More →
Breaking News

House price growth edges higher in January

Slight rise in annual house price growth to 1.0% House prices were up 0.3% month on month Continued improvement in affordability helped drive first-time buyer activity in 2025 Headlines Jan-26 Dec-25 Monthly Index* 544.9 543.4 Monthly Change* 0.3% -0.4% Annual Change 1.0% 0.6% Average Price (not seasonally adjusted) £270,873 £271,068 * Seasonally adjusted figure (note…
Read More →
Breaking News

Housebuilding sector shows early signs of recovery

The latest Barclays Business Prosperity Index report1 reveals that despite affordability pressures, regulatory challenges and financial caution, four in five businesses (83 per cent) operating in housebuilding and its supply chains remain confident about their outlook for the year ahead. Barclays’ anonymised client data from around 70,000 UK businesses, combined with research from 500 industry…
Read More →
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove launches major updates to its agent qualification CELA

Rightmove’s Level 3 Certificate for Estate and Letting Agents (CELA) will include a new module on Renters’ Rights from April, helping agents to get Renters’ Rights ready before May The Level 3 Certificate for Estate and Letting Agents is included as standard within all Rightmove memberships, with only a fee to the exam board to…
Read More →
Breaking News

Clarity on energy efficiency rules for commercial property needed

Propertymark has written to Martin McCluskey MP, Minister for Energy Consumers at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, urging the UK Government to provide urgent clarity on the future of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for non-domestic property. The letter follows the publication of the UK Government’s Warm Homes Plan, which confirmed that…
Read More →