Recent house-buying interest has been so great that property portal Rightmove has thought fit to issue guidance on how to avoid gazumping.

July, which is typically a quieter time for the property market, was extraordinarily busy across the UK, reported Rightmove.

‘We saw a massive £37bn worth of property sales-agreed in July – the busiest month for home buying since we started tracking this data over ten years ago. Our latest weekly-sales agreed figure is also up by 60 per cent compared to the same week in 2019 as buyers continue to press ahead with their home-moving plans’.

The portal has also recorded all-time highs in seven regions for new seller asking prices, with rising popularity of countryside locations driving up prices in places such as Devon and Cornwall.

‘More property is coming to market than a year ago in all regions, and at a national level the new supply and heightened demand seem relatively balanced’, commented Rightmove’s’ Miles Shipside. ‘However, those expressing most desire to move on are unsurprisingly in London and its commuter belt.

‘London has 69 per cent more properties coming to market, with the South East at 60 per cent and the East at 56 per cent. With work and transport patterns potentially changing most around the capital, commuter-belt properties need to have more appeal  to prospective buyers than just proximity to a station.

‘Many buyers do appear to be satisfying their new needs in these regions, as the number of sales agreed in each is also at a record level. The out-of-city exodus has helped push prices to record levels in Devon and Cornwall, for example, where working from home means a different lifestyle much closer to your new doorstep’.