THREE-QUARTERS of 16 to 44-year-olds say they would use the internet to find information on buying a new home, according to housebuilder Wilson Connolly.

The older generation is catching up, with one in three people aged 45-plus saying they would turn to the web if they were buying a new home.

Richard Eagleton, director of marketing for Wilson Connolly, said: “We have been astounded by the way the internet has taken off for house purchasers. It has opened up instant opportunities for searching for your next home and, according to our research, people use it alongside estate agents to widen their search and be better informed about the market.”

The survey also found:

One in five people between 16 and 34 say they would use the internet as their first source of information when looking for a new home. One out of two men would go to an estate agent as their first port of call when buying a new house, compared with two thirds of women.

Nearly one quarter of people in the Midlands would use a newspaper when looking for a new home, by comparison with less than one fifth in the North and the South.

The research shows the power of the internet in gathering information when planning a house purchase. “The ability to access details of homes from hundreds of vendors and sort them by location, price and size takes away a lot of the footwork of trudging around estate agents to pick up pages and pages of house details,” continues Eagleton.

Wilson Connolly conducted the research in conjunction with MORI Telephone Surveys following the successful re-design and re-launch of their website. The site is much more user-friendly and allows browsers to locate developments nearest to them or the place they would like to be living. It also allows the browser to search by the usual number of bedrooms, type and price of property. This approach is also demonstrated by the ability to ask a friend about the homes they have seen by emailing property details to them straight from the website.

Wilson Connolly builds around 4,500 new homes every year. Headquartered in Northampton, the group has nine regional offices and around 130 sites nationally.