A big Boxing Day bounce

Property platform Rightmove recorded its busiest ever Boxing Day for visits as home-hunters here in the East of England began preparations for a potential 2026 move.

Boxing Day on Rightmove has traditionally signalled the start of the busier home-moving season after what is typically the quietest period for activity during the festive month of December.

Visits to the website across all channels were higher on Boxing Day 2025 than in 2024, which was the previous record for visits to the Rightmove platform.

Visits to Rightmove nearly doubled (up 93 per cent) between the quietest day of the year on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, as potential movers swapped board games and Christmas specials for home-hunting.

This was a bigger bounce in visits to Rightmove than last year, when the increase was 87 per cent.

While home-moving activity is set to ramp up through the rest of January and into the peak spring selling season, Boxing Day typically sees home-moving activity start to increase.

The number of people sending enquiries to estate agents to go and visit homes for sale increased by 67 per cent in the five days after Christmas compared to the five days before.

Meanwhile, the number of new properties being listed for sale on Rightmove more than doubled (up 143 per cent) in the five days after Christmas compared to the five days before.

New buyer and seller activity this Boxing Day was busiest here in the East of England, as well as in the South East and in London.

The most popular type of homes to be listed for sale on Boxing Day were smaller properties, with up to two bedrooms, which first-time buyers typically aim for.

Steve Pimblett, Rightmove’s chief data officer, says: “It’s early days but Boxing Day’s data suggests agents could have a busy start to 2026 after a quieter festive period during December, which was also impacted by the lateness of the Budget and the uncertainty around potential policies in the lead up to it.

“Record-breaking visit numbers indicate many are looking to put some of the uncertainty of last year behind them and get going with a 2026 move.”