Housing market: Rightmove reports busiest ever day with millions seeking to move home after lockdown

The housing market has been open for business for less than three weeks and already a record number of home buyers and renters are ready to make, in many cases, a life-changing move in search of a quieter lifestyle and more space.

The “lockdown effect” on the housing market has led to property portal Rightmove reporting its busiest day on record on Wednesday May 27, with more than six million visits to its listings, an 18 per cent increase compared to the same Wednesday a year ago.

The number of buyers who called or emailed an estate agent after seeing a listing on Rightmove is also up, by 18 per cent, on the same day a year ago.

Miles Shipside, Rightmove’s housing market analyst said: "The challenge agents are facing is handling this surge in enquiries, having a process to deliver virtual viewings, and setting up socially distanced and safe physical viewings.

"This means that although numbers of sales agreed have improved from being down 90 per cent to currently being 47 per cent down compared to this time last year, it’s going to take a considerable time for a return to sales agreed levels seen last year and at the start of this year,” he adds.

Two months of lockdown has meant a huge overhaul for the many households who have grown accustomed to working from home and commuting less, with the change in routine prompting many to review their work-life balance.

The cathedral city of Canterbury has seen the biggest surge in interest from potential home buyers, with the number of property listings viewed within the CT postcode up by 23 per cent compared to last year.

Before coronavirus lockdown was imposed, this Kent town was already swinging into favour with London commuters thanks to its one-hour fast trains into St Pancras and comparatively good-value house prices. The average asking price for a home in Canterbury is £306,704, which is significantly less than the current London average of £638,492.

Unsurprisingly, searches for homes in sought-after coastal locations in the south of England, such as Devon and Cornwall, have also spiked, with local agents confirming an uplift in interest from Londoners seeking to relocate businesses and to make a significant lifestyle change.

"The last two weeks have been incredibly busy - it's crazy," says Blair Stewart, a consultant at Strutt & Parker in South Hams, who reports that some buyers have gone to the extraordinary lengths of chartering helicopters to make socially distanced viewings possible.

"The interest has extended from second-hand homes to empty plots; with some buyers looking to build their own house with a view to relocating their business from the city to the South-West as many take stock of their work-life balance."

With travel restrictions likely to be in place for months to come, Stewart says second-home buyers who would usually be searching for an overseas bolt hole are now setting their sights on the pristine seaside towns along the South-West coast, as well as some of the prime resorts in Cornwall.

Rightmove reports a 20 per cent rise in searches across the TR postcode, which takes in the popular seaside enclaves of Truro, St Agnes, Perranporth, Newquay, St Columb, Penryn, Falmouth, Helston, Redruth, Camborne, Marazion, Penzance, Isles of Scilly, St Ives and Hayle.

The average asking price for a home within the TR postcode is currently £260,228.

Chris Clifford, Head of Residential Sales at Savills in Truro says: "Aside from all the obvious places to buy a home in Cornwall, I would also look in the south east or west where you find you will get more for your money.

Places like Fowey, Polruan, Looe or Porthleven and Perranuthno are ideal spots for either first or second homes and are all areas we are seeing more interest. Furthermore, The Roseland offers space, country as well as coast and is not so busy in the summer in comparison to the north coast," he adds.