Traffic from house hunters on Rightmove rose substantially from Christmas Day last year to January 2 2019.
House hunting is expected to pick up in January, with traffic on Rightmove set to rise from Boxing Day onwards following a quiet December, the online estate agent has found.
Last Christmas, page views increased by 231% between Christmas Day and January 2and the busiest day in December was Sunday 30December, as people started to think about moving in the new year.
Miles Shipside, property expert at Rightmove, said:“As we move into December, we see people start to get distracted by turkey and tinsel, but once the celebrations are in full swing it doesn’t take long before traffic rises again.
“Some may realise their home is too small or they finally decide that next year will be the year they take on an exciting project and buy a fixer upper property.”
Rightmove data showed the most popular time for people looking for a new home is 8.48pm on a Wednesday.
Visits to its platforms peak between 8 to 9pm each day as many people spend the evening dual-screening. The quietest hour is at 4am on a Monday.
Shipside added: “We know just how obsessed the nation is with property, but to see such precise consistency in terms of browsing times is really quite remarkable.
“It may be that the Wednesday peak of 8.48pm coincides with the final advert break of many TV shows.
“A few years back the busiest time of day was lunchtime but as mobile usage increased this has changed to property lovers revisiting us every evening.”
Home hunters spend an average of over one billion minutes searching Rightmove every month.
