House hunters are returning to the property market, claims Rightmove

The latest house price index from Rightmove reveal rising home hunter activity, an increase in properties coming to market, and asking prices going up in all but one region of the UK. Also, the portal says the contraction in the number of homes being sold in recent months is now losing steam. Its figures, which are for January, reveal that the average asking price has increased by 0.8% across the UK;  that the number of properties coming to market rose by 2%; and that agent stock held steady (see graph, right). Also, the number of homes sold contracted by only -1.6% during January, compared to -5.5% in the final quarter of 2017. As well as reporting record traffic to its website at 141 million visits last month, Rightmove says the hottest property market is in the Midlands, where asking prices are rising three times faster than the national average. “The average price of newly-marketed property in the Midlands is up by over 5% compared to a year ago, a marked contrast to parts of London and its commuter belt,” says Rightmove’s Miles Shipside (pictured, left). “Many buyers in the Midlands are willing and able to pay more to secure their…

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