Residential property transactions show a rise in June
According to the latest UK Property Transactions Statistics by HMRC, residential property transactions rose to 63,250 between May and June this year – a rise of 31.7%.
However, largely due to the pandemic, this figure is still 35.9% lower than the same period a year earlier.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the number of residential property transactions in June totalled 68,670, 31.5% lower than June 2019.
Anna Clare Harper, the author of Strategic Property Investing, says:
“The context of the recent change to stamp duty is making waves through the housing market. The quick implementation and temporary nature of the change, combined with pent-up demand in the housing market, has for obvious reasons resulted in an increase in transactions.
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Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, comments:
“Transactions, not more volatile house prices, are always a better indicator of market strength. These figures show activity is moving in the right direction but will clearly take time to be reflected in the figures as we emerge from lockdown and associated restrictions.
Property sales from April to June were the lowest for three months of any year since 2005.
The tax authority said this reflected the “impact” of coronavirus on the UK property market.
The sector was effectively not open during the lockdown. England was the first part of the UK to resume viewings and sales in mid-May. However, other countries in the UK started viewings some weeks later.
HMRC revealed, that the second quarter of residential transactions in 2020 is the lowest quarterly total. This lowest record in the series reflects the impact of COVID-19. Following a “generally upward” trend in transactions from late-2013 until early-2016, non-residential transactions have “plateaued” until the most recent provisional data.