House Hunting Picks Up As Some Offer After 20 Minutes
Property sales will pick up in the autumn owing to a change in the "mood music" in the housing market, surveyors say.
But a survey by property portal Zoopla suggests that some of those buyers will make an offer after short viewings.
A fifth of buyers questioned said they had looked around for less than 20 minutes before putting in their bid.
It comes after the UK's biggest mortgage lender said house prices are likely to rise for the rest of the year.
Expectations of a rise in sales have reached their highest level since the start of 2020, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Its monthly report found that surveyors expect activity to pick up over the next three months, with more predicting an increase in the year ahead.
Government housebuilding pledges and a cut in interest rates - the first in four years - by the Bank of England had "shifted the mood music in the sales market", according to RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn.
"Significant challenges lie ahead in delivering on the ambitions around planning reform and it is far from clear that the Bank of England will follow the August move with further easing over the coming months," he said.
"But, even so, the policy mix is becoming more supportive for the sector."