Revealed! The best month for completions and what buyers wanted in 2023

March was the most popular month for completions this year as sales took longer and buyers focused on affordability, analysis has revealed.

Zoopla’s annual review for 2023 has revealed the habits of buyers, sellers and visitors to its website.

March was the most popular month for completions for both new homes and existing properties thanks to a surge in market activity at the beginning of the year, Zoopla said.

Meanwhile, users reached their highest point in July, the portal added.

The average time to sell a property was 34 days - up from 25 days in 2022, as three bed homes remain the most in demand property type this year.

When looking at on-site searches, ‘freehold’ takes the top spot for keyword searches on Zoopla.co.uk, moving from third place in 2022. This perhaps reflects the ongoing debate on leasehold reform for much of this year.

‘Annexe’ also moves up one spot to third space in 2023, perhaps reflecting the growing trend of intergenerational living for many families, as a third of UK households are classed as ‘multi-generational’. 

‘Garage’ remains in the top three list of keyword searches as it did in 2022.

Potential homeowners were also searching for a range of homes across the UK with seven out of 10 of the top 10 most viewed properties being affordable family homes, or doer-uppers. 

Only three homes in this list are multi-million pound properties, indicating that 2023 was the year many homeowners became realistic about what they could afford, and therefore what they have been viewing, Zoopla said.

Looking to 2024, Zoopla said: “Housing affordability needs to improve to price more buyers back to the market and support more sales. UK house prices have fallen less than expected over 2023 but together with 5% mortgage rates, it means purchasing a property still remains relatively expensive for an average household.  

“To see a meaningful reset when it comes to affordability, house prices will need to fall further as incomes increase. Assuming mortgage rates drop to 4.5% by the end of 2024, Zoopla expects that house price growth will remain negative with prices down 2%  next year.  A faster fall in mortgage rates towards 4% would boost sales activity rather than house prices. “