The stress of moving home is being reduced as increasing numbers of homebuyers choose the Internet to do the hard work for them.
House hunting on the Internet is proving a winner with www.new-homes.co.uk Britains leading new homes website having recorded its millionth search and winning a four stars award for Best Property Portal in the Bentley International Property Awards.
And the latest research reveals 58% of house hunters are using the Internet as a major source of property information.
That figure is set to grow still further, with findings from the Halifax and New Homes Marketing Board annual survey revealing that 82% of buyers expect to make some use of property websites the next time they move, and 37% expecting it to be their main source of information in their search for an ideal home.
Pierre Williams, spokesman for the New Homes Marketing Board, said: It is the effectiveness and convenience of the web that makes it so popular.
Simplicity of use plus a massive database of more than 80% of all new homes currently for sale means www.new-homes.co.uk has been rated effective or very effective by 71% of survey respondents.
Internet searching is particularly effective for buyers of new homes, many of whom move for job re-location reasons and have little time for the traditional method of browsing estate agents windows. Buying a new home already has many proven advantages. But the ability of the Internet to allow new home buyers to search for their dream home anywhere in the country and at any time is ideal.
Moving house is invariably a stressful time. But much stress and expense can be alleviated by avoiding the time-consuming leg work.
The New Homes/Halifax survey revealed 52% of house-hunters felt the process of both finding and buying a new home was either fairly or totally straightforward, with a further 22% expressing no opinion.
Getting mortgage approval, financing the purchase and finding what properties were available were rated the least stressful aspects of moving rated as fairly or totally straightforward by 65% and 62% of respondents respectively.
The most stressful part was selling an existing home and moving in day, both of which were rated as stressful or very stressful by 35%.
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