When the housing market re-opened in England on 13th May, after 3 months of lockdown, there was an enormous appetite for understanding how quickly, and with what strength, demand would return.

The portals were well-placed to help because they can track the number of visits to their sites, but there is always a question of whether viewing Rightmove or Zoopla is as much about kitchen envy, or property porn, as any genuine intent to move house.

Agents themselves are the most reliable barometer of activity in their local areas but we were repeatedly asked for a metric that would reflect the wider market.

So, the team at Dataloft came up with the idea of tracking the number of visits to local market insight pages on agents’ websites. It seemed likely that anyone browsing a local agent’s website, rather than a portal, is further along the psychological journey of committing to a home move.

Thus was born the Dataloft Demand Index, launched on June 8th, tracking demand from March 15th onwards.

Agents who subscribe to Dataloft Inform have the opportunity to set up a local market insight page* on their website, by embedding the Dataloft Inform widget. It means that, for all the agents using the widget, we can track the number of visits to their local market insight page on a daily basis – making it a highly responsive indicator of potential demand across the UK.

It showed a surge of activity as the housing market re-opened. In the week that lockdown was lifted, the Index climbed by 30%. By the end of May, it was 71% higher than it had been a month earlier – demonstrating the enthusiasm with which prospective buyers, sellers and renters greeted the opportunity to move.

We intend that the Dataloft Demand Index will be adopted as a standard metric in the UK housing market. It’s simple to understand and it’s a robust and real time indicator of consumer interest levels.

Footnote:
*Local market insight pages paint a detailed picture of local market conditions, down to postcode sector level. The page automatically updates every month with local market analytics. It has been shown to increase the dwell time of website visitors as well as encouraging greater engagement.