THERE has been 'explosion' in the property market during the pandemic, according to an estate agency.

A stamp duty holiday and demand for housing outstripping have been cited as reason for a property boom in south Cumbria.

The housing market ground to a halt at the beginning of the pandemic but later reopened with renewed interests from buyers.

Poole Townsend, which operates in Furness and the South Lakes house prices had been rising amid an 'explosion of activity' in the market.

The estate agents has looked back on approximately a year since it restarted selling houses in June following the 'brick wall' of the first lockdown.

A spokesman said: "The signs at the beginning of 2020 were good, the market active and steadily growing but then the brick wall that was the first and most restrictive lockdown hit.

"Buyers were still keen, wanting to book viewings and some sellers still wanted to book valuations.

"But we waited as we should.

"What none of us could have imagined was the explosion of activity that would come with the reopening of the property market.

"The market went through the roof.

"All the buyers that were waiting to view started to buy and the snowball effect started from there.

"Competition for houses grew as more and more purchasers came to the market.

"New instructions started to arrive and the speed of property sales quickened.

"The property market was alight and the stamp duty holiday simply added fuel to the fire.

"The unprecedented high level of sales continued right up to Christmas with a very short lull for turkey, Christmas pudding and eggnog.

"The New Year arrived and the sales started again.

"The impending stamp duty deadline loomed at the end of March but the brakes aren't being applied.

The estate agency said that houses were being sold so quickly waiting for a weekend viewing was 'too long'.

PC Lettings has also reported huge demand for houses in the rental market and has appealed to landlords to provide new properties for listing.

More than one in 20 people in Barrow and Furness moved house because of the coronavirus pandemic, a survey suggests.

Research by the think tank Demos showed that 6 per cent of people surveyed in the area in December said they had recently moved house or were planning on doing so for reasons related to the pandemic.