Street-wise: many buyers choose their road before sta...

A new report from Zoopla claims very nearly a third of buyers want to know the street - or even the specific house - they wish to purchase before they even start their property search for a new home.

A survey of 6,000 members of the public suggests that 31 per cent know the street or specific house they want to move to.

In London the figure is even higher - 48 per cent - while in Wales the figure is extremely low by comparison, just 16 per cent.

In a parallel survey of 660 estate and letting agents Zoopla says agencies are receiving increasingly specific requests for the location, type or even exact property wanted by enquirers.

Meanwhile, less immediately helpful for agents perhaps, Zoopla has drawn up a league table of locations where people check their property values.

Residents in Milton Keynes are most likely to frequently check the value of their home. On average they are 42 per cent more likely to run a valuation on their property than the national average.

In second place is Bedford at 38 per cent and Colchester in third, where vendors are 32 per cent more likely than the rest of the country to inspect their property price.

However, another survey - for interiors firm Thomas Sanderson - suggests that once they have moved quite a few people are quickly falling out of love with their new property.

A study of 2,457 British adults suggests that 13 per cent of buyers confess to being very unhappy with their home within a year of moving, citing location, price and neighbourhood as the main reasons.

One in six respondents said that they were completely happy with their home but 30 per cent said that they were only moderately happy while 20 per cent said they were moderately unhappy and 13 per cent said they were very unhappy.

Those unhappy with their current living situation were asked why this was, and the top responses were found to be ‘I want to live in a different location’ (24 per cent), ‘I’m struggling to keep up with mortgage payments’ (23 per cent) and ‘I don’t like the neighbourhood’ (18 per cent).