London estate agent Chestertons has released its latest monthly market data, which shows that after a record-breaking July, sales activity eased during the month of August, but was still substantially busier than August last year.

In August, as travel restrictions were lifted and many people took the opportunity to take a summer break, the company reported a 10% drop in enquiries, a 7% drop in viewings and a 24% drop in the number of sales being agreed compared to July.

However, it was still one of the agent’s busiest Augusts, with 55% more enquiries and 40% more sales agreed than August last year.

The agency also received more incoming sales calls – a good indicator of buyer appetite – than at any point so far this year (including pre-Covid) and the number of new properties coming onto the market also increased by 8% over the course of the month, bringing much needed supply to meet the strong demand from buyers.

Guy Gittins, Chestertons MD, commented: “Many of our sales offices reported a bit of a lull in activity in August, but when we looked at the figures it was clear that this was a ‘false lull’ because although activity has slipped slightly from the manic levels seen in July, we still had a very busy month when compared to previous Augusts.”

“After the stress and strain of lockdown, it was clear that many people used August as an opportunity to escape London for a holiday.

“With schools back and the main holiday season now over, the first few days of September have been pretty busy and we expect activity to pick up further over the next couple of weeks as people try and secure a property with enough time to move before the end of the year and take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.

“Judging by our online enquiries and incoming call statistics, buyer appetite is still incredibly strong and we believe there is now enough momentum to sustain a healthy level of sales activity until the end of the year.”