Speed Buying

According to ING Direct the average homebuyer now spends just 17 minutes looking at a potential property before making a decision. To put this in perspective, the report finds choosing curtains takes an average of 54 minutes, a new outfit just an hour and to book a holiday two hours. Even a weekly visit to the supermarket takes more time, some 45 minutes.

As many as 49 per cent of purchasers are driven to make a snap decision by the frenzied pace of the housing market, believing the property they viewed could be sold if a decision is not made quickly.

House buyers also have a strong belief in their own perceptions, with 38 per cent claiming they 'knew' within five minutes if the property was to be their future home.

A third of buyers said they were prompted by a shortage of high quality housing, and the report comes after a busy six months for the housing market. Over £177 billion worth of mortgages were loaned in the first half of 2007 alone.