Online property searches climb in December

Against the usual seasonal decline, online searches for real estate overseas climbed by 4.8 per cent in December, the latest figures from Rightmove have suggested.

The news could be of interest to individuals looking to purchase property in Spain, with the country boasting a large distressed property market, with homes available at below market value.

Rightmove's head of overseas Robin Wilson said: "Typically we'd see a seasonal decline in search activity from November to December of around five per cent, so a positive upswing of 4.8 per cent was welcome at year end."

And speaking to Overseas Property Professional, Mr Wilson added that he believes that the increase in activity was a result of the "horrific" weather conditions experienced in the UK.

"There was more web traffic generally, and people were bored at home and so were feeding the dream of a property in the sun," he explained.

The best performing countries were the US, which recorded an increase of 16.5 per cent on the previous month, and Germany, which posted a 15.5 per cent increase.

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