House sales surged by more than two-thirds in September
There were 160,950 residential transactions last month, considerably higher than last year, but the market is expected to slow following the stamp duty holiday stimulus.
The provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of UK home transactions in September was up 68.4 per cent on September 2020, according to HMRC figures.
There was a 67.5 per cent leap compared to August 2021.
The statistics highlight the length that buyers went to take advantage of even a lower stamp duty saving before the end of September, according to Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman.
He added: “On the ground, we are already seeing to what extent sales were brought forward as activity has reduced but certainly not ground anywhere near to a halt. Buyers continue to be motivated by record low mortgage rates, shortage of suitable stock, government support schemes and unexpected savings.”
A massive change is not on the cards, according to Leaf. However, the looming threats of higher inflation, an interest rate hike and further Covid measures “could put a dampener on some moving plans.”
Gareth Lewis, commercial director of property lender MT Finance, also predicted the market would “quieten down a little”, and anticipated subdued transaction numbers over the next few months with the threat of an interest rate rise.
He added: “That said, there are still people keen to move who haven’t yet been able to do so because of supply constraints. Assuming they can find a property they wish to buy, they will continue with that transaction, even if it may cost them a little more in terms of their monthly mortgage payments.
“The market may not be quite as frenetic in coming months but we don’t expect to see transactions fall off a cliff either.”
The provisional non-seasonally adjusted estimate for residential transactions was 165,720, 67.3 per cent higher than September 2020 and 59.7 per cent higher than August 2021.
There were 10,420 non-residential transactions this September, according to HMRC’s provisional seasonally adjusted estimate. This was 20.2 per cent higher than September 2020 and 8.4 per cent higher than August 2021.