House transactions slide lower amid ‘stagnant’ property market
The number of houses being bought and sold edged further down last month, as fears of a stagnant property market continue to loom large.
Residential transactions were 3.2 per cent lower in July 2018 compared with the same month last year, according to the latest data from HMRC’s property transaction statistics.
Read more: There is fresh evidence of a slowdown in Greater London's property market
Deals also fell 0.8 per cent from June to July, with 99,270 residential transactions being reached last month.
Kevin Roberts,director of Legal & General Mortgage Club, said: "Despite increased innovation in the property industry and assistance from government schemes such as ‘Help to Buy’ and ‘Shared Ownership’, property transactions remain stagnant.
"A fundamental imbalance between supply and demand continues to stifle movement within the market, and until this issue is properly addressed, homeowners will find it difficult to downsize or upsize into better suited properties."
Read more: House prices in the capital sink to lowest level since financial crisis
"July’s HMRC data is more encouraging than the previous month’s in that the transaction levels are not declining by as much as they were. This reflects what we are seeing on the ground – a broadly flat market with one month up, one month down, and no clear pattern" according to Jeremy Leaf, north a London estate agent and former Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors residential chairman.
Leaf added: "Certainly we are not seeing any significant change or expecting any as the market adjusts itself to the slightly higher interest rate climate and more realism, as potential buyers return from holiday and we move into the traditionally busier autumn season."