The number of sales registrations at the Land Registry fell by 5.5% annually last month but there are signs that the market is recovering.

Land Registry Price Paid data shows a 5.5% annual decline in registrations of residential property transactions in England and Wales during August to 88,305.

Registrations, which were up 0.52% on a monthly basis, reflect deals that would have been done months ago.

There is also a time lag between a sale and it being recorded, and the Land Registry said 30,595 of the registrations were for sales that took place during the month.

The Land Registry figures follow heavilyc conflicting HMRC data that showed a 32% monthly boost in sales.

The HMRC figures cover the whole of the UK, while this Land Registry data only includes registrations from England and Wales. However, there does not seem to be a satisfactory explanation as to why there is such an enormous gap between what HMRC reports and what the Land Registry records.

Of the Land Registry registrations, 743 were for residential properties worth more than £1m.

There were 410 sales of properties worth £1m or more in London, five in the west midlands, six in Manchester and one in Wales.

The most expensive residential property sold in August was in Westminster for £16,500,000, and the cheapest sold in Sunderland for £18,500.

Sales jump by one third in a month in ‘significant recovery as buyers get on with it’