Buyer demand across England surged by 88 per cent in the week to May 19 after the housing market reopened, figures from Zoopla show.
A consumer survey by the property listing website has found that nearly 60 per cent of buyers in the UK are planning to continue with their search for their next home.
By contrast, 41 per cent said they have put their plans on hold, citing market uncertainty, loss of income and diminished confidence in future finances as deterrents.
Despite the boom in buyer demand as restrictions lifted in England, more concrete measures of market activity remained subdued.
New sales agreed in England have increased by 12 per cent since the market reopened from levels that were just a tenth of typical sales volumes at this time of year.
Annual house price growth of 1.9 per cent to £253,900 was almost flat in April compared to 2 per cent in March.
Zoopla director of research and insight Richard Donnell says: “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.
“The covid crisis and 50-day lockdown have created an unexpected one-off boost to housing demand.
“Millions of UK households have spent a considerable amount of time in their homes over the lockdown period and missed out on hours of commuting.
“Many households are likely to have re-evaluated what they want from their home.
“This could well explain the scale of the demand returning to the market.
“We need to see more supply come to the market to satisfy this demand.”
He adds: “The economic impacts of covid will grow in the coming months and uncertainty is building.
“The majority of would-be movers plan to continue their search, encouraged by low mortgage rates and continued government support for the economy.
“However, 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 cannot be discounted and would help limit the scale of the downside risks.”
Barrows and Forrester managing director James Forrester says: “You only have to look at the miles of queues approaching your local drive-through takeaway of late to see what happens to demand levels when you deprive the nation of something.
“This is certainly no different when it comes to the appetite for homeownership and a huge uplift was always on the cards following the reopening of the property market.
“This will level out as estate agents begin to facilitate this activity on both the side of buyers and sellers and it will certainly help to quell the huge uplift seen in recent weeks.
“However, this trend is unlikely to subside altogether and this ongoing demand will help to stabilise the market from a price point of view over the coming months.”
Benham and Reeves director Marc von Grundherr says: “The property market is still very much finding its feet following the impact of the covid-19 pandemic and there will no doubt be a few aftershocks in the way of delayed market reporting for the period we were locked down.
“However, as we stand, the foundations and fundamentals of market activity remain steadfast and it’s clear that the market has returned with a bang over recent weeks.
“Of course, we will see certain pockets of the market take a little longer to return to normality.
“London’s top tier in particular which relies heavily on foreign buyer demand will continue to transact via virtual means until travel restrictions are lifted.
“But all in all, a modest level of growth is a very welcome sign given the turbulence of the landscape.”
