Rightmove, the UK’s biggest property website, moved to dispel fears surrounding the housing market today by insisting that, while price growth was slowing, there was no reason to panic.

Ed Williams, group managing director, said that, although affordability was becoming more of a problem for potential homebuyers, the housing market was going through a “typical soft landing”.

He said: “There is a slowdown in the housing market, but it’s something we do not believe is anything like as traumatic as in some reports.

“It has been slowing down in areas outside of London for a year, so it’s a typical soft landing.”

Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society, said yesterday there had been a collapse in new buyer inquiries and that the Bank of England was unlikely to push interest rates up to 6 per cent.

Earlier this month, Rightmove sparked some of the panic by showing that asking prices in London had fallen for the first time in a year – albeit only a 0.1 per cent drop.

Miles Shipside, Rightmove commercial director, said he expected house price growth “in the single digits” across the UK next year. “A slowdown is good for the long-term health of the market, affordability needs to come back,” he said.

He signalled that Rightmove believed rates had gone far enough: "The five increases so far appear to have had the desired effect."

All of the UK’s top 15 estate agents now advertise their properties on the Rightmove website, as well as 19 of the country’s top 20 developers.

Half-year results today showed that underlying operating profits in the six months to June 30 rose 60 per cent to £13.2 million on revenue of £25.4 million, up 68 per cent.

Visits to Rightmove.co.uk are up 58 per cent year-on-year at 24.3 million per month.

The group has moved to increase revenue by introducing initiatives such as Rightmove Choice, which allows estate agents to tailor their ads to attract buyers.

Revenue per advertiser per month is up 29 per cent at £234 and the number of advertisers is up 26 per cent at 18,514.

Mr Williams said: “Rightmove has continued to grow rapidly in the first half of the year as we increased our membership of agents and new homes developers.

“We are confident about the company’s prospects for the second half of the year.”

Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 2p per share, up 1.5p. Rightmove’s shares rose 1 per cent or 6.5p to 569p. The company floated at 335p in early 2006.

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