Transaction levels slid in the first months of this year.

Between February and May, the monthly average for completed sales across England and Wales was 61,283. The average for the same period last year was 70,029.

In May itself – the latest month for which the Land Registry has sales data – there were 65,619 transactions, a 15% drop from the 77,488 of May last year.

In London, there were 7,488 completed sales, a 24% drop from the 9,808 in May 2014.

The Land Registry also reports that the average house price across England and Wales stood at £183,861 in July, a 1.7% monthly rise and a 4.6% annual increase.

The east of England had the highest growth in house prices, at 2.8% for the month and 8.9% for the year.

London house prices remained much higher than the average at £488,782, up 2.5% from June and up 8.3% annually.