The UK housing market remains robust, with residential property transactions going up by 4.9% between December and January, the fourth consecutive month of increases.
According to data from HM Revenue and Customs, on a monthly basis property transactions increased from 99,900 to 104,820 in January.
This month’s seasonally adjusted figure is 0.3% higher compared with January last year and up 9.4% from September.
Katherine Binns, research director at the HomeOwners Alliance, said: “The latest HMRC data shows it’s been a healthy start to 2017 with seasonally adjusted transactions up 4.9% in January compared to December 2016. Despite ongoing political and economic uncertainty, there’s still a lot of activity happening in the UK housing market which bodes well for buyers and sellers alike.
“It will be interesting to track these figures as the government approaches the ever-looming deadline to trigger Article 50 in March. Recent figures suggest that while the market is functioning properly, homeowners and prospective buyers are being advised to keep a watchful eye as the political and economic situation develops.”
The number of residential property transactions dipped by 0.9% in July. HMRC attributed the decline to April’s increase in stamp duty resulting in a rush to purchase before the deadline and buyers putting off transactions until after the EU Referendum.
Paul Smith, CEO of haart estate agents, said: “Today’s data continues to show the market is resilient with transactions up 4.9% on the year, all the more impressive when considering the rush of buy-to-let buyers entering the market to beat the stamp duty surcharge this same time last year. However the government’s approach to potential property buyers places too much emphasis on the stick whilst offering not enough carrot, and is doing nothing to persuade potential buyers that now’s the time to make a move.
“All we as the industry can do is to continue to sing the same tune for change in the hope that the government will listen. Remove stamp duty for downsizers and first-time buyers, build more family homes and improve affordability for millions of first-time buyers that are desperately wanting to jump off the merry-go-round that is the rental trap. It will take a combined effort from all areas of the market to really unlock the potential for change.”
