Post-election Boris bounce sends prospective buyers rushing to the portals

Post-election Boris bounce sends prospective buyers rushing to the portals

Rightmove is reporting a big Boris bounce, with traffic up by over a quarter on this time last year, and defying the usual pre-Christmas slowdown.

It says that demand across the UK from possible prospective buyers jumped 28% in the four days after the election (Friday the 13th to Monday this week), compared with the same time last year.

The biggest rise in property hunters was in London, up 54% on a year ago.

Rightmove’s Miles Shipside said: “Some of the pent-up demand from the ‘wait-and-see’ buyers is starting to show signs of being released, despite the distractions of Christmas.

“We often see a spike following an election, but it’s more surprising this year given the usual seasonal slowdown, perhaps because some home hunters know they’re more likely to get a bargain if they can agree a sale before Christmas.

“While it’s too early to see an uplift in new stock, we do think this will start to come through after Christmas and into January.

“This year five of the top ten busiest days on Rightmove were all in January, so with a bit more political certainty than before we could be shaping up for an active January market.”

Agents are also seeing an uptick in interest from sellers.

Simon Hughes, of Conran in south-east London, said: “Since Friday we’ve seen more motivated buyers coming to the market, as well as an uplift in potential sellers wanting their property valued, which has given an unexpected boost to the end of the year.

“It’s not usual for our diaries to be this jam-packed just before the Christmas break, so we’re now gearing up for a very busy January.”

Meanwhile lender Halifax is predicting brighter prospects for the property industry next year.

It is forecasting transactions to pick up – although it does not say by how much – and prices to increase by between 1% and 3%.