No Data for Rightmove's House Price Index

Since the British government effectively closed down the housing market towards the end of March by enacting lockdown restrictions, Rightmove does not have enough data to compile its House Price Index for the first time ever.

The UK portal giant publishes its House Price Index on a monthly basis, but for the first time it will not be able to do so this month. According to Rightmove Analyst and Director, Miles Shipside,

“Given the lockdown and pausing of key activities in the housing market, statistics on the number of properties coming to market, new seller asking prices, and new sales agreed are not meaningful.”

It seems that The UK housing market, along with others in Europe, are experiencing what the Chinese market experienced a month or two before. According to an interview with a prominent Chinese agent conducted by Spanish #1 portal idealista property sale transactions are down 30% year on year already. 

In some further bad news for the portal giant, a damning report in the Financial Times calls their handling of the crisis “fumbled”. The article speculates that the recent Say No To Rightmove campaign could prove fatal and send the network effect into reverse as agents finally have a common cause.