Rightmove upbeat as homebuying enquiries soar 80pc

It said house hunter enquiries by phone and email had reached 3.4 million a month, while visits to its website also surged by around 30 per cent in the four months to the end of October, despite the number of homes listed online rising by just 2 per cent.

The UK’s biggest property website has been cashing in on the housing market’s renaissance, recently reporting a 15 per cent rise in half-year pre-tax profits to £44.6m.

In its latest trading update, Rightmove said its popularity was also being helped by a new TV advertising campaign featuring music by Blondie.

Government schemes including Help to Buy and Funding for Lending have buoyed the housing market in recent months, enticing more first-time buyers on to the property ladder with cheaper mortgages.

House prices surged by 6.9 per cent annually in October as they continued to rise at their fastest rate in more than three years, according to Halifax figures on Wednesday.

But there are concerns the Help to Buy initiative could cause a property bubble.

The second part of Help to Buy launched last month after being brought forward from an earlier start date of January, offering state-backed mortgages to buyers with just a 5 per cent deposit.

The Government will guarantee 15 per cent of the loan to the lender on new and existing homes worth up to £600,000 under the scheme, which follows on from the first phase offering an equity loan on new-build properties.

But York-based housebuilder Persimmon said that high interest rates being charged on mortgages under the loan guarantee scheme were putting buyers off.

The Charles Church and Westbury Partnerships group said there had been a muted impact so far from the extended Help to Buy initiative, as only a limited number of lenders have launched deals so far under the scheme and interest rates are still seen as costly compared with mortgages requiring higher deposits.

Rightmove believes investment in technology, such as a new smartphone app and local phone numbers, has combined with the improving housing market to drive growth.

It said page views from mobile devices almost doubled year-on-year to more than 1.7bn in the four-month period.

Rightmove dominates a property search market which also includes smaller rivals Zoopla and Prime Location.