Edinburgh is the most popular location searched by house hunters in the UK with the Scottish capital getting 145% more enquiries than anywhere else in the last year.
Croydon, in south London, got 104% more interest, according to the study by property portal Zoopla based on an analysis of email enquiries sent to estate agents.
In third place was central London with 77% more enquiries than the average, followed by Glasgow at 67%, Leicester at 56% and Birmingham at 55%.
At the opposite end of the scale the locations with least interest were topped by Preston with 55% less enquiries than the average, followed by Wigan, Newport and Warrington, all 55% below and Doncaster, Telford and York, down by 48%.
The research also looked at the most popular search terms, with buyers in Edinburgh and Croydon keen on homes with a garage and for those looking to buy in London, the term ‘freehold’ was the most important search term.
Across Scotland, a coastal view appeared to be important, as the most popular keyword search there was ‘sea’ and in Wales, the desire for vast outdoor spaces proved particularly popular, with the word ‘acres’ being the most searched for keyword.
The most sought after London borough was Barking and Dagenham, with homes in the area receiving 168% more interest than the average London property listing, followed by Bexley and Hounslow, with 43% and 40% more interest respectively.
Richmond Upon Thames saw 35% less enquiries than other London boroughs, followed by Kingston Upon Thames with 32% less, Hammersmith and Fulham 28% less and Kensington and Chelsea 26% less.
‘This new set of figures gives us valuable insight into which areas of the British property market are most in demand. It’s interesting to see Edinburgh outranking London, which perhaps reflects a cooling in the property market for central London,’ said Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.
‘It’s no surprise that we see high demand for properties in the outer London suburbs, such as Croydon, as they prove to be an affordable alternative for buyers,’ he added.
