Better later than never? Property market springs back to life in May

The typical spring bounce in the property market may have started slightly later this year, as HMRC data shows a 12.1% boost in transactions during May.

HMRC’s property transactions statistics had registered a fall in sales during April, but the latest data suggests a more positive market.

The taxman recorded 95,480 residential property transactions last month, up 12.1%  on April  but down 1% annually.

All UK regions saw a monthly rise, with the Welsh market up 25.2% to 4,460 transactions, and England saw a 12.4% boost in sales to 80,900.

Transactions in Scotland were up 3.6% to 7,970 on a monthly basis while Northern Ireland saw a 10.8% jump over the month to 2,150 deals.

Compared with the same period last year, Wales and England were down just 0.4% and 0.5% annually, while Scottish transactions slid 7%.

Only Northern Ireland saw an increase in sales annually, up 1.8%.

The figures are less impressive on a seasonally adjusted basis, up 0.8% between April and May, and 0.5% annually to 99,590.

Commenting on the non-adjusted figures, Neil Knight, business development director of Spicerhaart Part Exchange & Assisted Move, said: “While we are still nowhere near the levels we were seeing before the credit crunch – when the number of transactions had risen constantly over a number of years to reach a peak of around 150,000 per month – it is a marked increase, and could suggest we will start to see a bit of an uplift, especially in the new build sector.

“We are currently working with a range of house builders that have got lots of big developments in the pipeline.

“The focus on new housing over the past few years – with incentives such as Help to Buy – is starting to boost the new-build sector, and while we are unlikely to hit the Government’s targets, we are at least moving in the right direction, and this should help boost the rest of the property sector too.”

x

Email the story to a friend



Comments are closed.

Thank you for signing up to our newsletter, we have sent you an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Additionally if you would like to create a free EYE account which allows you to comment on news stories and manage your email subscriptions please enter a password below.