Legal Experts Say Festive Period Is A Good Time To Think About Moving

Conveyancing experts claim that property websites will have seen a boom in users logging on to search for new homes in between Christmas and New Year.

Boxing Day is usually associated with bargain hunters hitting the high streets and online shops looking for discounted clothes, furniture and electrical gadgets but increasingly consumers have added new homes to that list.

In recent years rightmove.com reported a 20% rise in visitors to their site between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

The property website said that on Boxing Day 2013 it had 25 million page views, which was up 21% on 2012.

Downloads of the firms app are also expected to be over 25,000 this year over the Christmas week.

One possible reason for the growing trend could be that sellers drop their prices in early December to try and entice a larger audience to view their properties at a time when many people are off work and able to devote more time to house hunting.

Experts at law firm, Irwin Mitchell, believe the free time during the holiday period, when houses are over-crowded by visiting relatives, and families are together to discuss future plans could cause the flurry of interest in moving home.

Winter is traditionally regarded as a slow season for selling property but Christmas marks the beginning of the housing market picking back up again.

Helen Hutchison, Partner and conveyancing expert at Irwin Mitchell, said the arrival of online property search websites meant that house hunters were able to browse new homes during the holidays when estate agents are traditionally closed.