Transaction data released by HRMC shows that the property market in England and Wales was 15% busier in August than July, with the Stamp Duty holiday a major contributing factor to the increase.
The figures, which are around 16% lower than August 2019, continue to show the upward trend which is being reported around the industry.
On Monday Rightmove reported they estimate nearly 40% more sales are currently going through than at this time last year.
Conveyancers are busy and research on Indeed shows a continued rise in conveyancing vacancies being advertised which were up 60% from July to August.
Lenders are struggling to cope with the demand while search companies are reporting record months.
The bounceback is welcome as the latest figures show that Quarter 2 202 residential transactions total was the lowest quarterly total since 2009 Quarter 1, around the time of the banking crisis.
Unsurprisingly there has been greater demand for larger homes driven by Stamp Duty savings and the need for additional space at home to live and work as we spend more time at home due to Coronavirus. The number of sales agreed for three and four-bedroom homes in August was 55% higher than the same month last year.
But while the market remains broadly positive, some commentators are cautious.
The latest update from Yomdel Property Sentiment Tracker suggests that new enquiries from home movers have started to dip.
And writing in Today’s Conveyancer, The Conveyancing Association’s Director of Delivery Beth Rudolf warned that lengthening transaction times means that home movers run the risk of missing the SDLT holiday deadline at the end of March 2021.
Nick Leeming, Chairman of Jackson-Stops, comments:
“Today’s data from the HMRC is particularly interesting as the figures include the early impact from the stamp duty holiday which came into effect in July. With housing transactions taking weeks to progress from offer to completion, only transactions towards the end of August are likely to have been spurred on by this incentive.
“Despite this short window of time, the savings buyers can make coupled with the pent up demand from the housing market’s closure, has resulted in a notable uptick in activity with over 81,000 residential transactions recorded in August. “
The data, and a short analysis of the results, can be found on the HMRC website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-property-transactions-completed-in-the-uk-with-value-40000-or-above
