Home sales dropped 63 per cent in July
Property transactions were 62.8 per cent lower in July compared with the previous month after the stepping down of the temporary stamp duty reduction.
The provisional adjusted estimate of UK residential transactions for July was 73,740, up 4.2 per cent on July 2020, the latest data from HMRC has shown.
There was a rush to complete transactions before the end of June to make the most of the temporary relief, however buyers were still eager to press forward with purchases in July.
CEO of property consultancy SPI Capital, Anna Clara Harper, said the sharp monthly fall in transactions was no “suprise or concern” following the temporary reduction in stamp duty.
“Investors, homeowners, solicitors and banks pushed hard to get transactions done in time for buyers to complete before the end of June to make the most of this temporary relief,” Harper said.
Activity levels had not dropped as much as had been expected, Guy Gittins, CEO of estate agency Chestertons, said.
Gittins said: “The inflated market activity we have seen due to the Stamp Duty Holiday appears to have finally reached its peak after an unprecedented number of property sales during the first half of the year.
“Whilst the urgency has now come out of the market, we still have a record number of cumulative buyers remaining who are looking to buy.”