Another Rightmove record - 131 million visits last month

Rightmove secured over 131m visits last month, an all-time high for January.

The 131m total was some three per cent above January 2016 - and this was despite the glut of investors looking at properties at the start of last year in a bid to beat the April 1 stamp duty surcharge deadline.

The portal company is due to report its full-year 2016 figures to the City and its shareholders on Friday of this week.

The January visits were revealed in the latest Rightmove asking price index, which shows a much smaller rise than traditionally at this time of year.

Asking prices have risen 2.0 per cent, or an average of £5,986, which is the smallest price rise at this time of year since February 2009. This is well below the average 5.0 per cent February uplift seen over the previous seven years. 

This contributes to the recent glut of indices showing a slowing in the pace of price rises, with the annual rate now running at 2.3 per cent - the lowest since April 2013.

“Perhaps we’re approaching the territory where many buyers are unable or unwilling to pay what sellers are asking, given the negative combination of rises in the cost of living, tighter lending criteria, and a dose of Brexit uncertainty” says Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst.

“The housing market has had a long sprint since April 2013 when the annual rate was last below this level, so it’s not surprising that upwards price pressure is running on tired legs with average prices today being 23 per cent or nearly £60,000 higher than they were then” adds Shipside. 

But the portal says despite the slower momentum of price increases, the number of properties that agents are selling is holding up well in comparison to a year ago. 

Sales agreed are down by just 3.1 per cent in January, with the bottom rung of the ladder understandably being the drag with a fall of 8.9 per cent. This sector, comprised of properties with two bedrooms or fewer, also saw fewer new listings, down by 10.3 per cent compared to the overall new supply drop of 6.1 per cent.

Three quarters of agents surveyed by Rightmove in recent weeks report their local market as price sensitive and that an asking price more than a few per cent too high will harm interest levels in the property. 

Only 25 per cent said interest was still generated if prices were more than 5.0 per cent too high. Rightmove’s analysis of over 100,000 newly-listed properties shows that sellers are 40 per cent more likely to sell with that agent if the property is priced right when they first come to market.