Housing market is seeing signs of life, according to Rightmove

According to internet broker Rightmove, the housing market is reviving after a stagnation last year.

It said “confidence is improving” and that the number of deals in recent weeks was only a tenth below pre-pandemic levels.

It comes after a slowdown in activity last year after a “hectic” 2021, Rightmove said.

The company claimed that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget in September, which caused a spike in mortgage costs, led to a slump in deals in the last three months of 2022.

Peter Brooks-Johnson, CEO of Rightmove, said people who were planning to buy a home “stopped thinking about their options.” And he added: “The first few weeks of January were quiet, but since then we have seen confidence improving.

“We’ve come a long way and it looks like this year will be a bit quieter than 2019, but certainly within the range of normal years.”

His comments came as revenue for 2022 rose 9 per cent to £332.6 million, while operating profit rose 7 per cent to £241.3 million.

It was boosted by homebuilders, who usually sell their homes outright, who turned to Rightmove for help selling homes during the market slowdown.

The company increased its dividend by almost a tenth to 8.5 pence per share, or a total of £68 million.

But shares fell 1.1 percent, or 6 pence, to 557.8 pence yesterday.