Transaction revenue in Savills’ UK business was down 5% in the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year.

The firm reported that transaction advisory income was down from £93.7m to £89.3m. The drop was driven by a 23% decline in income on the commercial side – down from £41.9m to £32.1m.

However, UK residential transaction fee income rose 10%, to £57.2m.

Savills said there was a “significant increase in transaction volumes” ahead of the Stamp Duty increase on the purchase of second homes in April. This had been followed by a tempering of activity.

Savills, which is also active in Asia, continental Europe and the US, said that this year there had been “big drivers of uncertainty including the EU referendum, but that increasing clarity “will start to emerge over the balance of 2016”.

In the second hand sales market, Savills overall transaction volumes were up by 14% in London and 23% in the country market. The average value of London residential property sold by Savills in the period was £2.5m, down from £3m in the first half of last year.

The average price in the country market stayed at £1m.

Savills said: “The lower London average value indicates further progress in implementing our strategy to expand in London markets with values below £1.5m . . . New offices were opened in Primrose Hill and Maida Vale.”

Altogether, Savills announced that across its whole business, group revenue was up 14%, to £622.7m. However, group profits before tax were down 3%, to stand at £25.5m.

Group chief executive Jeremy Helsby said: “Savills has delivered a strong first half performance with revenue growth across the Group. The resilience of our less transactionally focused businesses, combined with our geographic diversity, more than offset reductions in transactional activity in certain markets.”

He added: “Looking to the second half, at this stage, in the traditionally quieter summer period and so soon after the EU Referendum result, it is not possible to obtain a clear read on the direction of activity in a number of the group’s principal markets, although the fundamental attributes of real estate as an investment class remain strong.”