Rightmove, the UK’s biggest property portal, pointed to signs of life in the housing market today, with sales rising and conditions in the rental sector staying “very busy”. Its website is often the first place many buyers enter the housing market. It said today that sales agreed between January and April were up 17%.  That came “with both sellers and buyers now increasingly looking to transact”, it added. But the FTSE 100 constituent also warned that “higher mortgage rates  continue to stretch affordability for the average buyer, and the market is operating at different speeds across its many segments and areas”. Those lingering concerns added to a feeling in the City that an interest rate cut from the Bank of England should come sooner rather than later, with some experts hoping for action as soon as next month. But consensus forecasts continue to see September as the month most likely for the first rate cut of the post-pandemic era. The BOE left rates on hold at a 15-year high of 5.25% for the sixth consecutive meeting this week. Rightmove’s stocks stayed under pressure. It was down 30p to 543p, a drop of 5% and the biggest of the day on...