The situation for the agents selling property is bleak: agency Foxtons’ sales commissions between March 23 and May 15 were 61pc down year-on-year, while those for lettings dropped by 40pc.
The new surge in demand that has emerged since lockdown is unlikely to maintain momentum. Richard Donnell, of Zoopla, said: “The Covid crisis and 50 day lockdown have created an unexpected one-off boost to housing demand.”
People have been spending more time at home and have had time to re-evaluate what they want, he added. But he does not expect the growth to continue. “The scale of the rebound … is surprising given projections for a sharp rise in unemployment and a major decline in economic growth,” said Mr Donnell.
House price growth was flat over April, Zoopla said. It is still too early for the true effect of lockdown to be felt in the price data, which typically relates to sales agreed in the previous month, but estate agent Knight Frank estimates that the value of agreed sales has fallen by 5pc between March and May.
For now, there are three big factors to watch. To what extent the availability of mortgages for buyers with low deposits increases, which will determine first-time buyer purchasing power, and what happens when the furlough scheme and mortgage holidays end, which are supporting 8 million workers and one in seven households respectively.