Rightmove

What's happening in the housing market? 🏠 📉 Average asking prices see a seasonal drop of 1.5% (-£5,708) this month to £367,785. We've continued to see a seasonal month-on-month dip in asking prices from July to August for the last 18 years. 🏠 The number of buyers enquiring about homes for sale on Rightmove, increased by 11% compared to July 2023. But since the first Base Rate cut in four years was announced, we’ve seen demand jump even further, and it’s currently 19% higher than the same time a year ago. Our property expert Timothy Bannister says: “While mortgage rates aren’t yet substantially lower since the rate cut, the fact that the long-hoped-for first cut has finally arrived, and mortgage rates are heading downwards, is positive for home-mover sentiment.” Find out more 👉 https://bit.ly/3yAm3YD

Empty nesters could gain £500,000 in cash by choosing to downsize. 💷 🏠 Homeowners of five-bed houses who own outright could downsize to a three-bed home, and make an average of £498,687 in cash before moving costs. 🏠 Movers in the North East gain the most from downsizing, recouping 65% of their five-bedroom house’s value – the highest percentage of any region. Our property expert Timothy Bannister says: “By transitioning from a five-bedroom to a three-bedroom house, homeowners could still retain spare bedrooms for guests and free up on average half a million in cash for other uses before moving costs."

We're thrilled to share that Rightmove will sponsor The Voice UK for its 13th series! 🎤 The Voice UK is one of ITV’s most loved programmes, and its core message of self-belief and confidence aligns perfectly with our mission at Rightmove, to empower everyone to believe that they can make their move. Our Chief Marketing Officer Matthew Bushby says: This sponsorship offers us a unique opportunity to reach millions of viewers, inspiring confidence in people looking to move during the busy Autumn selling season.

The excitement of the Olympics has captured the nation's attention this summer. ☀️ 👉 Our data shows an increase in searches for properties featuring private swimming pools, up 11% this month versus last month. 👉 We also saw a 12% uplift in searches for homes within 3km of the London Aquatic Centre Olympic pool since the start of the Olympics. Our property expert Timothy Bannister says: “With the Olympic swimming, and Team GB, making a splash on our screens over the past week, it seems the nation has been inspired. Whilst many of these home-hunters may be browsing for now, it does demonstrate how the Olympic spirit can impact so many aspects of our lives.”

Did someone say Ryan Rentals? 🏠 👉 Following Ryan Reynold’s new Deadpool film launch, we noticed on our platform that searches for properties to buy in Wrexham increased by 36% week on week. 👉 With Thursday 25th July being the day with the highest increase in searches for Wrexham in 2 years! Our property expert Timothy Bannister says: “It's fascinating to see how cultural events and celebrity influences can impact property search trends, as we've seen in our data."

The Base Rate has been cut for the first time since 2020, to 5%📉 👉 We should start to see mortgage rates continue to fall, but not to historic lows. 👉 This is positive news for the economy, and one more rate cut of 0.25% is forecasted by the end of the year. 👉 It will take some time for the Base Rate to come down, but it could eventually fall to about 3.25% in 2028, although this depends on what's happening in the wider economy. Our mortgage expert Matt Smith says: “The highly anticipated Base Rate cut has finally arrived, and while those looking to take out a mortgage soon shouldn’t expect to see drastically lower mortgage rates, we would expect the downward trend we’ve started to see continue. This sets us up for hopefully further cuts to come."

Today, we’re asking the government to consider retaining the first-time buyer stamp duty threshold, which is set to reduce from £425,000 to £300,000 from April 2025. Our analysis shows only 37% of homes for sale will be eligible for first-time buyer stamp duty relief in England come next April, down from 58% of homes that are currently eligible Currently, a first-time buyer pays no stamp duty on properties up to £425,000, but this is due to drop back to £300,000 from April 2025. Around a third of first-time buyers purchase properties over £300,000. Our CEO, Johan Svanstrom says: “We welcome the new government’s meaningful ambitions for increasing housing supply. It should consider consumer support measures, by retaining the current first-time buyer stamp duty relief threshold of £425,000 in England, and looking at solutions to help first-time buyers with not only their deposit, but also being able to borrow enough from a lender. Mobility and housing is an important growth engine for the overall economy." Read more here 👉 https://bit.ly/46oNJfy

We hosted the Ladies that UX London community for an event on how AI is reshaping the design industry in profound ways ✨ 👉 We welcomed an incredible lineup of researchers and designers who shared how AI is impacting their workflows and the experiences they're building for users. 👉 This event highlighted the importance of the ever-evolving technology in our field and how we can leverage AI to help designers and researchers in their roles. Thanks to everyone who joined us! 📷 Ladies that UX London

What's happening in the rental market? 🏡 👉 Average rents outside of London rise to a new quarterly record of £1,314 per calendar month, now 7% higher than last year's £1,231 per calendar month. 👉 Despite overall rental supply slowly improving from last year, the number of rental properties available is still 20% below pre-pandemic levels. Our property expert Timothy Bannister says: “With 17 enquiries for every available rental property, the market remains out of balance and difficult for tenants. We need landlord investment to increase stock and help achieve a healthier supply and demand balance in the market.”

We contributed to this year's Sustainable Markets Initiative report on "Clean Tech homes", together with several other companies in the property sector. We headed to the report's launch event this week, hosted by Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud. 🏠 Rightmove revealed a growing interest in sustainable living from users, with searches for terms like 'solar panels' and 'heat pumps' increasing rapidly, as well as stronger user interaction with EPC information. Our CEO Johan Svanstrom says: “Under Rightmove’s Go Greener initiative we aim to help educate the millions of people who use Rightmove every day about the green home choices they can consider." 📷 Ryan Jenkinson / Octopus Energy