How home movers reacted in the 24 hours after the budget announcement

• Within half an hour of the announcement the use of our mortgage calculator jumped by 85% and overall traffic to Rightmove jumped by 16%
• 45% of all properties will be exempt from stamp duty from July to September

 On the announcement to extend the stamp duty holiday until end of June:

• The average stamp duty saving in England is £5,802
• People enquiring about properties under £500,000 on Rightmove makes up 84% of all buyer enquiries in England
• People enquiring about properties under £250,000 on Rightmove makes up 50% of all buyer enquiries in England
• Rightmove estimates an additional 300,000 property transactions in England could get through by end of June, based on previous HMRC transaction data
• If an additional 300,000 transactions made it through, buyers could save £1.75 billion in total
• Based on the current sales that have been agreed in England, 80% of them would pay no stamp duty due to the holiday

Rightmove’s property expert Tim Bannister said: “This three-month extension will come as a huge relief for those people who have been going through the sales process since last year and were always expecting to make use of the stamp duty savings. Our recent data shows one in five sales that were agreed in the same month the stamp duty holiday was first announced in July last year still haven’t completed, so this additional time will make a big difference to help those stuck in the logjam complete their purchase in time before the new end of June deadline.

 “Buyers who have recently agreed a sale now have a race on their hands to see if they can also make use of the stamp duty savings, but many with purchases over £250,000 will find that time is too tight to complete before the end of June and so shouldn’t be factoring this into their purchase. It’s worth remembering that the average savings vary massively around England, and first-time buyers will still be exempt if they’re buying for £300,000 or less. There are also many other reasons people are choosing to move, evidenced by the strong buyer demand Rightmove has already seen in the first two months of the year.”

On the mortgage guarantee announcement:

• 86% of properties up for sale have an asking price of £600,000 or less
• The national average asking price for all properties is currently £318,580, which is 3.0% higher than February 2020
• The national average asking price of a first-time buyer property is £200,692, which is 3.6% higher than February 2020

Rightmove’s property expert Tim Bannister said: “We’ve heard from so many first-time buyers over the past year of their challenges to raise a 15% or 20% deposit, with a number saying they had to put their plans on hold, so the availability of 5% deposits will really help this all-important market sector. It could help some buyers bring their plans forward, especially if they managed to save more than they were expecting to while in the various lockdowns. It’s also a helping hand to people who have been struggling to trade up because of the much bigger deposit needed. Right now there are not enough properties coming to market to satisfy the increased buyer demand that this scheme will likely bring, so if more people do choose to trade up this could help open up more choice at the start of the property ladder.

 “The combination of not enough stock and high demand will help underpin prices, and we’ve calculated that over the past five years asking prices of a typical first-time buyer home has increased by £23,000 on average, so those who can now afford to buy a home will be trying to make the move quickly in case prices rise further.”