New data shows that the UK’s leading online property portals, which saw a surge in interest last year due to the stamp duty holiday and lessened Covid restrictions, have now seen activity decline heavily over the first six months of 2022.

The volume of online searches for ‘Rightmove’ fell by 9% compared to 2021, searches for ‘Zoopla’ fell 20% and for ‘Yopa’ by 12%. By comparison, all three brands saw online activity surge last year compared to 2020 (searches for Rightmove were up 29%, Zoopla up 24% and Yopa up 24%).

Interest in other portals also fell this year to date in comparison to 2021 – ‘OnTheMarket’ searches have dropped 14%, ‘Boomin’ by 25%, ‘PrimeLocation’ by 27% and ‘Purple Bricks’ by 3%.

The analysis was carried out by online search firm MediaVision, using its proprietary Digital Demand Tracker tool that analyses search data from AdWords and Google Trends.

However, the data also revealed that interest in companies providing shared working spaces continues to rise as businesses look for new approaches to hybrid working. Online searches for ‘WeWork’ more than doubled (up 144%) in the first six months of 2022 compared to last year, while searches for ‘Workspace’ rose by nearly a third (32%), as did searches for ‘Instant Offices’ (up 30%).