Rightmove Sees Record Boxing Day Traffic Boost as Marketing Campaign Kicks Off

The 26th of December (known as Boxing Day in the UK) typically sees a surge of users on property portals as people think about moving house in the new year.

British market-leading portal Rightmove said that it saw a 26% increase in new sellers as well as an 8% traffic boost for Boxing Day compared with 2022.

Commenting on the figures, Rightmove’s property expert Tim Bannister said:

“The scale of this year’s Boxing Day bounce is an early positive sign at the start of the year that buyers and sellers are out there and taking action, likely including some movers who had put their plans on hold last year.

“Whilst it is early days, it will be key to monitor activity as it ramps up through the end of winter and into spring, particularly to track whether sellers are pricing attractively enough to agree a sale with a buyer quickly, given buyers now have more choice to consider than last year and are still very price sensitive.”

The influx of new listings and increased traffic comes as Rightmove launched a marketing campaign, perhaps with one eye on the competition. The Milton Keynes-based portal has shelled out for a multi-media campaign starting on Boxing Day and running through the Spring selling season featuring its 'Believe it' creatives which were first used in September.

Rightmove's competitor Zoopla is also running a similar campaign while OnTheMarket's new owner CoStar has committed to spending £46.5 million on marketing and sales activities in its first full year of its ownership of the portal.