Demand from house-hunters jumped 88 per cent across England as the market reopened earlier this month.
Property website Zoopla said the weekly increase occurred between May 12, the day it emerged the market in England would reopen, and May 19.
Demand rebounded particularly quickly in cities along the south coast and in northern England.
Strong growth was recorded in Newcastle and Leeds, while Oxford, Liverpool, and Manchester also had increases in demand.
Zoopla said research among 2,000 people found, around 60 per cent of would-be buyers across the UK intends to go ahead with their plans.
But around four in 10 potential buyers said they have put their plans on hold, citing market uncertainty, loss of income, and diminished confidence in future finances as deterrents.
Zoopla said buyer demand was 20 per cent higher than at the start of March as England’s housing market reopened.
The website said it expects a significant proportion of sales that had been agreed before the coronavirus lockdown to continue but said increased uncertainty over the economic outlook will test housing chains in the coming weeks.
Richard Donnell, director of research and insight at Zoopla, said: “The scale of the rebound in demand for housing is welcome news for estate agents and developers but it is also surprising given projections for a sharp rise in unemployment and a major decline in economic growth.”
Mr. Donnell said he expects people to be more cautious in the coming weeks.
He said: “We expect the latest rebound in demand to moderate in the coming weeks as buyers and sellers start to exert greater caution. Further support from the Government can’t be discounted and would help limit the scale of the downside risks.”
Source: Leicestershire Live
