This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
The total number of residential properties sold in Britain climbed during May, according to new figures.
Data released by HMRC shows that 98,540 properties were sold last month, a rise from the 97,610 changing hands in April. With this said, the figures were still down year-on-year, when 101,710 properties were sold, representing a decline of 3%.[1]
Improving
‘Already this month, demand has been going from strength to strength,’ notes Peter Rollings, chief executive of estate agent Marsh & Parsons. ‘Confidence has more than rallied from the pre-election let-up, with new buyer registrations now up 27% on Janaury,’ he continued.[1]
He went on to state that, ‘mansion tax is now a distant memory and the higher-end of the market is moving move freely once again.’ Rollings believes, ‘this optimism is filtering all the way down the ladder and an improved sense of positivity is translating into more properties going under offer across the capital.’[1]
Residential property sales up in May
Caution
However, Andy Sommerville, director of Search Acumen feels that is, ‘still too soon to tell whether the property market can breathe a sigh of relief that business is back on track after the recent slowdown.’ He notes that, ‘May’s data shows a slight increase in transactions from April, but we’re still not matching activity levels from last year.’[1]
‘The squeeze on mortgage finance and shortage of homes still look like they are weighing down on the market,’ he continued. ‘The first week of the election month was wrought with uncertainty and it will clearly take time for the market to gather steam as we push into the summer,’ Sommerville concluded.[1]
In all, over 1.2 residential properties were sold during last year. This is still well below 2006’s level of 1.7m.
[1] http://www.cityam.com/218675/property-transactions-tick-may-outlook-uncertain
