Despite reports of a sluggish start to the New Year Housing Market, instant online valuation specialists, The ValPal Network (TVPN) generated 4,000 leads a day in January – almost a 50% increase on 2022.
There has been a mixed bag of predictions for the property market since the turn of the year, many of them indicating a price adjustment following the post-pandemic boom and, as reported by HMRC this week, a slight drop in transactions in December.
But new data just released by TVPN shows that a record number of leads was generated in early January at the rate of 4,000 per day – that’s 20,000 in a five-day period.
Business opportunity
This constitutes a huge business opportunity for estate agents who are looking at a more challenging market at least for the first Quarter of 2023.
TVPN Director, Craig Vile, said: “These numbers show that property values are still at the forefront of people’s minds and even though they may not be thinking of listing right now, they are preparing for the right moment to make their move.
“And if agents are going to get through this challenging period, they have to maintain their marketing spend and nurture every lead they can get hold of.
“They must re-double their efforts and re-engage with their database to ensure that, when the time is right for the seller, they are the pick of the bunch when it comes to listing.
“This is where online lead nurturing applications, like MovePal, come into their own, supporting agents by telling them, step-by-step, what their next move should be.
“We know that the key to successful lead nurturing is speed of response - that’s where our tech solutions have the edge in converting leads to customers.”
Factored in
“And it’s important that agents change their approach to suit the current market. People are taking more touch points before they make a decision. They need extra reassurance so they’ll be reliant on the trust and expertise of an agent to complete their move.”
Despite the increase in mortgage rates and the cost of living crisis which haunted the market at the end of 2022, there are signs that the economy is stabilising and that inflation is beginning to ease.
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee meets again in early February to discuss another possible rise in the Base Rate. However, most experts believe that even if members decide to increase by another half point, this already been factored in by mortgage lenders.
Vile added: “Even though housing activity is slowing because of cost of living, the numbers show it is still up on pre-pandemic levels.
“And there is still likely to be a Spring bump in the market. Agents need to be working on that right now.”
*The ValPal Network is owned by Angels Media, which also owns the Today sites
