Demand for homes in Liverpool has soared following the lifting of restrictions preventing all but non-essential house moves from taking place.

Under changes to the official Health Protection Regulations announced on Tuesday (12 May) evening, visiting estate agents and viewing properties was permitted from yesterday (13 May) for the first time in seven weeks.

Figures obtained by YM Liverpool from Zoopla show demand for homes in the city was up a massive 131.7% between 7am and 2pm yesterday when compared to the average from the last four weeks.

Zoopla says the surge in interest represents a “quick release of pent-up demand for properties after weeks of subdued market activity”.

Taking a longer-term view of weekly trends, the online property portal adds that whilst demand is running at 40% below where it was at the start of March, the release of impetus will further close the gap.

At the end of April, Zoopla estimated some 373,000 property transactions, with a total value of £82 billion, were on hold across the country after the government effectively suspended the housing market as part of its measures to control the coronavirus outbreak.

The majority of the sales were agreed between November 2019 and February 2020, and would have been set to complete between April and June.

However according to Zoopla’s latest UK Cities House Price Index, in the last two weeks of April demand for housing in cities across northern England rebounded strongly – notably in Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds.

Main image: Harrington Row, a collection of three-bedroom properties on Park Street, L8.

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