Strong growth in UK house hunting in traditionally quiet July
- Further sign that buyer interest is returning to market -
The price is right, finally...or so it would seem. According to the latest figures, traffic to the UK's leading property websites, where the vast majority of house-hunters start their property search, was up an impressive 9.25% in July over the previous month. The statistics come from the leading independent monitoring services, Nielsen and comScore, who track UK website traffic.
The figures show that unique visits to the top 10 UK property websites jumped from 8.1 million visits in June to over 8.9 million in July, at a time that traditionally marks the beginning of a slow period in the residential property market. All but one of the leading websites in the sector managed to attract higher numbers of house hunters in July which may bode well for a recovery in transaction activity, the key driver of house prices, come the end of the summer holiday period.
Zoopla.co.uk, was once again the fastest growing website in the online property sector with an increase in visitor traffic of over 20%, more than double the average according to the statistics, as it continues to enjoy a very eventful summer following the acquisitions of both ThinkProperty.com and the Propertyfinder Group. The second biggest winner in growth terms was Propertyfinder.com itself, which grew by 17% in July.
Alex Chesterman, CEO of Zoopla.co.uk, commented: "We have known for some time that pent up demand was building in the market whilst buyers have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the price to be right. Given the extraordinary growth in property window-shopping taking place on websites like Zoopla.co.uk in July, it would appear that pricing is now reaching levels where demand may turn into real activity in the market."
Fastest growing UK property portals
July 09*g | June 09*g | MoMg | |
|---|---|---|---|
510 | 424 | 20.28% | |
Propertyfinder Group** | 1,317 | 1,125 | 17.07% |
Nestoria | 577 | 516 | 11.83% |
Trovit Homes | 426 | 383 | 11.23% |
Globrix | 535 | 482 | 11.00% |
Digital Property Group** | 2,132 | 1,932 | 10.38% |
Rightmove | 2,783 | 2,634 | 5.66% |
Trinity Mirror Network** | 276 | 272 | 1.47% |
Home.co.uk | 158 | 156 | 1.28% |
Fish4Homes** | 216 | 250 | -13.80% |
Total for Top 10 Portals | 8,929 | 8,173 | 9.25% |
* Average number of unique visitors per Nielsen & comScore ** Figures include combined audience from multiple websites
- Ends -
About Zoopla
Hello. We're Zoopla. A property website and app.
We know you're not just looking for a place to live. You're looking for a home.
Yeah, we've got over a million properties for you to browse.
Tools that let you filter them in all kinds of clever ways.
And reliable house price estimates, so you can be sure you aren't paying over the odds.
But we know you're looking for more than that.
Because that first flat won't just be a 'great investment opportunity'.
It'll be the feeling of starting out on your own.
That extra bedroom won't just mean another £20K on the re-sale price, it'll mean having your sister over to stay.
And that bungalow won't just be a way to release some equity, it will be a chance to spend more time with the grandkids.
We know that searching for a home is about more than just checking its price, location and features (important as all those things are).
What really matters is how it makes you feel.
We know what a home is really worth.
So let us help you find yours.
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