Property transactions dropped in September on both a monthly and annual basis, HMRC figures show.
The figures give a view of those who may have started their purchases over the EU referendum period in June or early July, based on transactions traditionally taking 12 to 14 weeks.
The taxman’s latest UK Property Transactions data shows there were 103,400 residential deals in September 2016, down from 109,640 in August.
That is a 5.7% monthly drop and is 5.3% lower than in September 2015 when it was 109,160.
The figures look more drastic on a seasonally adjusted basis and would be down 4.3% monthly and 11.3% annually to 93,130.
Brian Murphy, head of lending for the Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “Neither of these figures are either surprising nor cause for concern.
“August completions reflect purchases which were started in May, which is typically a busy month as it’s the tail end of the Spring market, rather than June which generally sees the start of the summer holiday hiatus, and September 2015 was exceptionally busy due to pent-up demand following the General Election.
“This figure could be affected by the continuing lack of stock available, but it does somewhat demonstrate the ongoing demand for property, which therefore is likely to underpin the market for some time to come.
“Having said that, we will have to wait and see the data regarding the number of transactions completed this month and in November, thus reflecting those who started their transactions in August and September, to get a better barometer in terms of market confidence.”
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