End of summer sees property transactions blossoming

End of summer sees property transactions blossoming

The HMRC Property Transactions report for August 2015 reveals:

  • The provisional seasonally adjusted UK property transaction count for August 2015 was 106,480 residential and 10,880 non-residential transactions.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of residential property transactions increased by 3.1% between July 2015 and August 2015.
  • This month’s seasonally adjusted figure is 5.7% higher compared with the same month last year.
  • For August 2015 the number of non-adjusted residential transactions was 7.4% lower compared with July 2015. The number of non-adjusted residential transactions was 1.9% lower than in August 2014.

Peter Rollings, CEO of Marsh & Parsons, comments:

“Taking into account seasonal adjustment, property sales are going from strength to strength, and showing great improvement from this time last year. With the spectre of higher interest rates being kept at bay, buyer demand is in full swing and summer sales have continued to blossom in August. After slightly fewer home sales than we would expect in a typical July, buyers last month were showing a new enthusiasm and readiness to enter the market.

“The changes to stamp duty are still washing over London and cooling activity at the topmost tiers of the housing market. But overall demand for property in the capital hasn’t waned, as young professionals and first-time buyers continue to seek out up-and-coming areas to put down roots. The subsequent squeeze on available property for sale in the capital should keep pushing house price growth along well into the autumn.”

Andy Sommerville, Director of Search Acumen, comments:

“There is much cause for optimism to see seasonally adjusted property transactions hit their highest point in more than 18 months, since before the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review in April 2014.

“We’re hopeful that rising wages, further economic growth, low levels of inflation, and low interest rates – which now look likely to continue until Christmas at least – will all propel further buyers to the market. However, there remains a slight uncertainty* over whether the intent to buy will remain strong over the next few months.

“At this point, no one wants to see fall-throughs in transactions. Conveyancers experienced their busiest Q2 of the post-recession era, but can’t afford to wait for business to walk in through the door; instead, they need to hone their competitive edge by offering top-notch service to draw in buyers and introducers.”

*Knight Frank/Markit House Price Sentiment Index (HPSI) – September

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