The research shows that 10% of home-owners began their search for their current property on the internet. With homeowners moving on average every 7 years, this figure is set to triple as one third (29%) of respondents said they will begin by looking on the internet when they next move.
Key Findings:
Almost half (43%) of respondents aged between 18 and 24 years old had visited property websites as their first port of call for their present home. This is in contrast to respondents aged over 65, of whom only 1% had started their property search on the internet. The growing confidence of over 65s using the web is also apparent with 8% intending to begin the search for their next home online, eight times more than used it for their last move.
A quarter of Londoners (23%) favoured the convenience of searching online as their first option for their current property. This figure nearly doubles (44%) for Londoners intending to look for their next home on the web.
Estate Agency offices and services remain popular as nearly two in five respondents (38%) started their search and found their current property through this method. Of future house hunters, 34% stated they will also use them as the starting point for their new search.
Conversely, less people plan to undertake an initial recce to identify properties by driving or walking around prospective areas. Two in five people (20%) started their search for their last property this way with 30% stating this was how they found their current home. Yet, only 8% intend to begin their next search with a jaunt around their ideal area.
Colin Kemp, managing director for Halifax Estate Agents, commented: "Finding a new property on the internet has certainly increased in popularity with the ease of searching from your own home and the ability to search thousands of properties at a click of a button revolutionising the process."
