Agents are waiting on almost £1bn in sales commission due to the number of transactions that are now on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, Zoopla claims.

The portal estimates that there are around 373,000 sales agreed subject to contract (SSTC) that are held up in the pipeline and worth a total of £82bn.

This equates to nearly £1bn in sales commission for estate agents, based on a fee of 1.2% excluding VAT, the portal said.

The estimates are based on assumptions that the market was going to perform in a similar way to last year.

Zoopla looked at all the sales that completed in 2019 and tracked when they first moved to SSTC, often two to four months earlier.

Richard Donnell, director of research and insights for Zoopla, told EYE that the progress of these sales will depend on the stability of the chains and what agents do to hold them together.

Zoopla’s analysis found new supply and sales agreed have both fallen by around 90% since the beginning of March, but total listings are just 4% lower.

The portal warned that even if lockdown restrictions are lifted in May, it will take time for deals to resume and suggested a Stamp Duty holiday may be needed to boost the market.

It is predicting that the number of completed sales in the UK will be down by 50% this year, with volumes expected to remain low until September.

Donnell added: “Agents should be contacting their historic applicants to stimulate interest and getting them engaged on social media so they are ready to go once the market reopens.

“They could also be holding webinars to help groups such as first-time buyers.”

The portal also admitted it will be harder to access pricing evidence for its regular UK Cities House Price Index over the next two to three months.

Its latest monthly release for March showed average price growth in the UK’s 20 largest cities was up 1.8% annually and rose just 0.1% since February to £256,000 – the lowest rate for a year.

The overall UK increase was 2.1%.

Donnell said: “Sales continue to be agreed in low volumes by purchasers who viewed homes ahead of the lockdown, but there is a large pipeline of agreed sales held up by the temporary suspension of the sales market.

“In addition, these sales will generate associated spend resulting from housing transactions that can stimulate economic activity.

“Without doubt, once the coronavirus restrictions are relaxed, we should expect the release of demand that has been building since Brexit and political uncertainty destabilised market sentiment.

“That said, the case for a Stamp Duty holiday to support a resumption of market activity is clear and a high proportion of savings are likely to be spent, further stimulating economic activity.”