Around half of house-buyers end up finding their property through traditional methods such as spotting a for sale sign or browsing an estate agent's window - despite the growth in house-hunting apps and websites.

Some 55 per cent of homeowners who bought their property within the past two years said they had found it this way, including seeing an ad in a local paper, finding it at an auction or hearing about it from friends, family or neighbours.

Another 45 per cent of people found their property on a website or through an electronic alert such as a notification from an app, research from Which? Mortgage Advisers found.

Just over one in 10 people surveyed had found the home they went on to buy after seeing its details in an estate agent's window, while a similar number had seen a sign outside their property advertising it for sale.

And 6 per cent had found their home after seeing it advertised in a local newspaper.

Meanwhile, 9 per cent had found their home through word of mouth, while 1 per cent, perhaps inspired by shows such as the BBC's Homes Under The Hammer, had found their property at an auction.

David Blake, principal adviser at Which? Mortgage Advisers, said: "Despite the rise in online property portals, it seems many of us are still traditionalists when it comes to finding a property."

He said that while apps and websites were a good place to start a property search, speaking to a local expert could also help house-hunters to get a feel for the house and the area.

Some 2,000 home-owners who had bought the property they lived in within the last two years took part in the survey.

Here are the traditional methods which home-owners said they used to find the property they ended up buying, followed by the percentage who said they found their property this way:

Estate agent's window, 11 per cent

Phone call or email from estate agent, 11 per cent

For sale sign outside property, 10 per cent

Word of mouth, 9 per cent

Local newspaper, 6 per cent

Other traditional method, 4 per cent

"I approached the property owner directly", 3 per cent

Property auction, 1 per cent

Here are the percentages of homeowners who found their home through more hi-tech methods:

Searching a property portal, 37 per cent

Email from a property portal, 6 per cent

Other electronic alert, such as an app notification, 2 per cent.