Almost 70% look at properties online even when they are not interested in buying simply because they are nosey, the survey by independent researchers for PropertyLive.co.uk found.
One in 10 (12%) admitted that they deliberately use property websites to find out the value of their friends' and neighbours' properties. A further one in 20 (5%) said they were keen to know how much their colleagues' homes were worth.
Londoners emerged as the most prolific property snoopers. Almost one in six (16%) logged on to find out the value of their friends' and neighbours' homes, compared with 12% in Newcastle, 7% in Brighton and 6% in Liverpool.
Those aged between 25 and 34 were the most fixated with the property market, with eight in 10 regularly looking at property, despite having no intention of buying or renting. They were also the nosiest age group, with more than one in six (17%) checking the price of their friends' and neighbours' homes, and one in eight (13%) snooping on their colleagues' properties.
With the average first time buyer age now at 34, it is perhaps no surprise that 63% of this age group stated that this was out of curiosity, whilst 29% wanted to know when would be a good time to move.
The survey also found that one in 10 people logged on to keep an eye on how their house was positioned in terms of investment. The same number looked at properties online to find out if it was a good time to move home.
On average people spent 55 minutes per month looking online at property, with more than a quarter (29%) looking at between three and five properties a month, one in seven (14%) between 16 and 20, and a fifth between six and 10.
It is not just home owners who are obsessed with house prices. The research reveals that almost six in 10 (58%) of people renting a home keep a watchful eye on property online.
Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Property Professionals, which launched PropertyLive.co.uk, said: 'It is no secret that Brits are always concerned about the value of their own properties. But property surfing on the internet has become a hobby for those of us who are just as interested in snooping on the price of neighbour's and friends' homes.
'In the digital age, property portals are the internet equivalent of spying on the neighbours from behind net curtains. It is the modern way of keeping up with the Joneses,' he added.