Exchanges were down 10% last month compared with October last year.

Using its own data, estate agency chain haart is forecasting that there will have been 44,118 sales in England and Wales measured at exchange in October.

Haart’s branch data also shows that viewings were up 2.3% on a monthly basis but down 9.9% annually.

Haart’s average house price at SSTC in October was £240,869, a slip of 0.9% on the previous month.

First-time buyers paid an average of £191,825 – nearly 6% more than in September and 11% more than in October 2016.

Chief executive Paul Smith said: “If ever there was a time for a Stamp Duty break, it is now. Clearly something has got to give to rebalance the inequality between the old and young, and to address the resentment felt by those unable to get a foot on the ladder.

“However, plans to rob Peter to pay Paul by placing additional tax burdens on the buy-to-let market is not the way to go about it.

“Our branch data shows that there were 68% fewer landlords registering to buy across the country in 2017 than there were before the Stamp Duty surcharge was introduced in 2015.

“We should be incentivising landlords, not punishing them further. Another round of draconian measures will only see increased costs filtered down to the tenants, bringing us full circle and hitting those most in need – aspiring first-time buyers.”

It is the latest in a long line of calls filling our inbox urging Philip Hammond to do something about Stamp Duty in his Budget on Wednesday.

Ideas range from a cut or first-time buyer exemption, a last-time buyer exemption to encourage down-sizing, and to making it a seller’s tax, as proposed by Yorkshire Building Society and Martyn Gerrard managing director Simon Gerrard.