Taken from Property Eye
Fewer than four in ten home movers end up buying a property they found on a portal.
Consumer organisation Which? said that in research among 2,000 recent home movers, just 37% had discovered their new home by searching a property portal.
First-time buyers, despite their younger age group, were even more unlikely to find a home on a portal, with 60% using traditional methods rather than portals or apps.
According to Which? this is how the figures break down:
- Estate agent’s window: 11%
- Searching a property portal: 37%
- Phone call or email from estate agent: 11%
- Email from a property portal: 6%
- ‘For Sale’ sign outside property: 10%
- Other electronic alert, e.g. app notification: 2%
- Word of mouth: 9%
- Local newspaper: 6%
- Other traditional method: 4%
- I approached the property owner directly (e.g. by leafleting): 3%
- Property auction: 1%
Which? is now advising property hunters to put their laptops away.
The organisation says: “In parts of the UK where markets are fast-moving, with demand outstripping supply, the best properties are often snapped up before the agent has had the chance to list them online.”
Around seven in ten respondents said they decided not to view a property after browsing its online listing, with the main reasons being that the location wasn’t right (35%) and/or that it was too expensive (35%). One in six (16%) did not view a property because no floor plan was provided.
