"We started to see the tide turning towards the end of last year, and throughout 2022 a lot of our trends in the market have started to head back towards where they were in 2019."
New data from Rightmove reveals that London was the most searched for destination by buyers looking for their next home in 2022.
During the pandemic, more people were looking for their next home outside of cities, in the countryside or by the coast. In several months of 2021, Cornwall replaced London as the most searched for location on Rightmove.
This trend has reversed in 2022, as buyer search behaviour returns towards more normal pre-pandemic patterns. Searches for London increased by 9% compared with last year, while searches for Cornwall dropped by 18%, and by 17% in Devon.
London has 36% more buyer searches than Cornwall at the end of the year, which is the biggest gap since 2019. This compares to last year when there was just a 3% gap in number of searches between London and Cornwall.
The increase in searches for London alongside the decrease in searches for Cornwall & Devon indicates that the trend of looking out of the capital, and to the coast or countryside, may be behind us in 2023.
2022’s quickest markets
Livingston in West Lothian, Scotland is this year’s quickest market – with homes in the area finding a buyer in an average of just over two weeks (15 days). All of the top five areas are in Scotland, with Bo’ness, West Lothian in second place and Larbert, Stirlingshire in third.
The small village of Picket Piece in Hampshire is the quickest market outside of Scotland. Sellers in Picket Piece found buyers in an average of 16 days this year.
The rental market
This year has seen the most competitive rental market on record. At its peak, there were quadruple the number of tenants enquiring about properties to move to, as there were properties to rent.
Rightmove’s whole of market data on buyer, seller, tenant and landlord behaviour has also tracked shifts in what tenants are looking for this year.
Tenant searches for bills are up 57% compared with this time last year. The significant increase in searches reflects greater concern from tenants about their energy bills, and increased interest in properties that can include bills within the monthly rent.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s property expert, said: “This year people searching for their next home have well and truly returned to the capital – we started to see the tide turning towards the end of last year, and throughout 2022 a lot of our trends in the market have started to head back towards where they were in 2019.
“As we head into the festive period, we’re anticipating our traditional boxing day bounce in search activity, where more future home-movers log onto Rightmove after spending Christmas with friends and family, and begin thinking about where they could live next year. We’re hearing from agents that they are getting properties ready for sale to go live on Boxing Day, ready to capture the attention of those beginning their search through to the traditionally busier January period. We’ve seen a group of people using the past few months to assess their options and consider what they can afford, and they could be spurred on next year should fixed-rate mortgages drop as anticipated.
“Tenants have shown through their search behaviour how appealing a home with bills included could be. Any landlord who is able to offer this added incentive next year, is likely to be met with an orderly queue of ready-to-go tenants to choose from.”
