Zoopla has released new browsing data relating to its platform over the past 12 months, revealing that January was the most popular month for visitors to the the portal, followed by March and February.

The heightened early year activity is fuelled in part by the so-called ‘Boxing Day Bounce’ on the 26th of December and the new year which Zoopla says traditionally drives an increase in property searches as people start looking for a new home at the beginning of the year.

This year also 2024 also saw an increase in the popularity of floorplans on Zoopla listings, with 80% of buyers heading to the floorplan of a property before the photos.

May was the most popular month to list a home for sale on Zoopla, with summer the most popular time of year for house viewings and moves, while according to HMRC, August was the busiest month of the year for completions with 104,740 property transactions completed in the UK with a value of £40,000 or more.

Scottish areas have the speediest time to sell in 2024.

The average time to sell in 2024 was 33 days, down from 34 days in 2023, with three-bed semi-detached properties the most popular property type.

Falkirk takes the crown as the fastest-moving property market in the UK, with a time to sell of just 15 days, followed by Glasgow City (16 days) and West Lothian (17 days). All of the top five fastest-moving markets are located in Scotland, where properties are listed with a valuation and survey upfront, driving speedier agreements on sales.

Liverpool was the fastest-moving market in England and Wales with a time to sell of 19 days, followed by Manchester (23 days) and the London borough of Waltham Forest (25 days).

Table 1: Fastest moving markets (UK-wide)

Source: Zoopla

Table 2: Fastest moving markets In England and Wales

Source: Zoopla

Trending keywords on Zoopla in 2024, ‘freehold’ takes the crown for the second year running

When looking at on-site searches, ‘freehold’ takes the top spot for keyword searches on Zoopla.co.uk for the second year in a row, with ‘cottage’ and ‘double garage’ new entries to the top five.

Table 3: Top keyword searches in 2023 and 2024

Source: Zoopla

Meanwhile, new entries into the top 100 most searched-for keywords in 2024 include ‘in need of modernisation’ which moved up a huge 134 places to 53rd place, and study, which moved up 22 places and now ranks in 88th place.

To make it easier for visitors to Zoopla.co.uk to find properties that suit their needs, Zoopla also rolled out 16 new filters in 2024. The filters, which are enhanced by AI, allow Zoopla users to filter by feature including the number of bathrooms and bedrooms.

When it comes to the most expensive and cheapest local authorities to purchase a home, the borough of Kensington and Chelsea retains the crown as the most expensive local authority in the UK in 2024 with an average house price of £1,132,100, ten times more expensive than the cheapest local authority of Inverclyde, which has an average house price of £105,800.

Table 4: Most expensive  and cheapest local authorities to purchase a home in 2024

Source: Zoopla

Moving to the rental market, local authorities in London again dominate the most expensive list with the borough of Kensington and Chelsea the UK’s most expensive place to rent a home with an average rent of £3,518 per calendar month (pcm), almost triple the UK average of £1,270.

Hartlepool in County Durham was the cheapest place to rent a property in 2024 with an average rent of £564pcm. This was followed by the Scottish local authorities of Dumfries and Galloway (£571pcm) and East Ayrshire (£579pcm).

Table 5: Most expensive and cheapest local authorities to rent a home in 2024

Source: Zoopla

What’s next for the housing market in 2025?

Zoopla expects the current momentum in sales to continue into 2025 and predicts an uptick in sales completions from 1.1m in 2024 to 1.5m in 2025. This will be driven by improvements in affordability and growth in incomes which will encourage more home moves.

First-time buyers will remain the largest buyer group supporting housing chains and unlocking moves for existing homeowners. When it comes to house price growth, Zoopla predicts a 2.5% increase in 2025.

Reflecting on the latest report from Zoopla, Toby Leek, NAEA Propertymark President, commented: “It is clear that the housing market is heading in a positive direction with affordability and activity continuing to increase. With interest rates likely to continue to remain much lower in 2025 than they were throughout this year, that should lead to more buyers entering the market, especially in England and Northern Ireland, prior to the Stamp Duty changes becoming a reality in April.

“Heading into the new year, the UK government looks to legislate the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and with widespread concern on being able to meet their ambitious target of building 1.5 million new homes before the end of this parliament, a plan needs to be set out to show how these aspirations become a reality as boosting supply of all types and tenures is crucial to meet demand.”