Stamp duty changes – Rightmove reaction and latest figures

• There are over 510,000 properties that are under £500,000 on Rightmove in total, making up 81% of all properties for sale in England
• Over 291,000 properties under £500,000 are currently available for sale on Rightmove, making up 78% of all properties available for sale in England (i.e. they have not yet found a buyer)
• People enquiring about properties under £500,000 on Rightmove makes up 84% of all buyer enquiries in England
• Rightmove recorded its busiest ever day for visits to the site yesterday (Tuesday 7^th July), with 7.7 million visits

Rightmove’s property expert Miles Shipside said: “This move will help to keep the nation and wider economy moving because keeping the current momentum going will help prevent destabilising falls in property prices as unemployment grows, and enable a quicker economic recovery. Lockdown prevented 175,000 would be sellers from coming to market so we hope this Stamp Duty holiday will provide the spur for those missing movers to come to market. They will find there’s currently record demand for their properties from prospective buyers, with Rightmove enquiries to agents now double what they were before lockdown. Home-movers will be grateful that the changes come into effect straight away so they don’t have to delay their plans, and what we could see now is people rushing to get a price agreed before some sellers put their prices up in the hope people will be able to pay more because of the tax savings.”