The property portal stated that buyers are rushing to get purchases across the line as the number of mortgage deals on offer plummets. On Tuesday 27 September, agreed sales were at the highest number in a day since early August.
And while the number of potential buyers requesting to view properties on 26 and 27 September was down by three per cent, Rightmove confirmed that “demand was still significantly higher that the supply of homes for sale.”
In addition, although 1.6 per cent of all properties were reduced on those days, this was the same level of reductions as on other Mondays and Tuesdays this month, according to the company.
“Buyer demand higher than pre-pandemic”
Longer term, Rightmove is still relatively upbeat about the prospects for the housing market. Over the last month, buyer demand is 20 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic five-year average and new sellers have also been ‘ticking up’, now standing eight per cent higher than in 2019.
Meanwhile, the overall number of homes going through conveyancing is 40 per cent higher than it was three years ago.
Commenting on the figures, Rightmove’s housing expert Tim Bannister said: “The number of attractive mortgage deals tumbling this week is a bitter pill to swallow for those who want to move and those with fixed terms due to end, and it will impact buyers’ budgets, especially those who were already stretching themselves.
“We’re monitoring activity carefully in real-time, and for now what we’re seeing is that the housing market’s very much still moving.
“Over the past month, activity has shown that the housing market has been surprisingly resilient against headwinds of rising rates and so it looks like for those who can move, they’re going ahead for now.”
