A becalmed housing market is heading for a livelier autumn after the number of prospective buyers contacting estate agents rose by almost a fifth in the space of a month.
Rightmove has increased its forecast for annual changes to asking prices from -1 per cent to a positive 1 per cent after reporting a pick-up in buyer interest since the Bank of England announced its first interest rate cut in four years.
According to the online property platform, the number of potential buyers is up by 19 per cent compared with August 2023, when buyer sentiment was at its nadir under pressure from high inflation and high borrowing costs. The August increase is an acceleration on the July growth figure of 11 per cent.