Figures from Rightmove show demand from buyers returning to the housing market rising by 55pc this month.
The increase in demand comes amid falling mortgage rates and is compared with the two weeks before Christmas. It is the biggest “new year bounce” since 2016, the property website said.
Buyer inquiries were also 4 per cent higher than during the same period in 2019, which experts have attributed to mortgage rates increasing confidence among buyers. An average two-year fixed rate mortgage deal has dropped from October's high of 6.65 per cent, down to 5.79 per cent at the beginning of this month, and has lowered again to the current 5.63 per cent.
“Activity has bounced back after Christmas and agents will now be busy trying to match the likely revised expectations of buyers and sellers as we move towards the important spring season”. Tim Bannister, of Rightmove, said. “We expect that the full effect of affordability constraints and last year’s mortgage rate rises will hold back some segments of the market in the first half of the year, but our leading market indicators may start to identify some green shoots of growth that will go on to strengthen in the second half of 2023.”