She said: “Looking to the future, the extension to the temporary stamp duty reduction is likely to boost the housing market in terms of transactions and pricing.
“This is positive news, as house price growth both reflects and boosts confidence.
“The ‘tapering’ down of this measure from September will help to avoid a housing market ‘cliff edge’.”
In the Spring Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed that the stamp duty holiday would be extended until 30 June.
After which a taper will be place, with the SDLT threshold reduced to £250,000 until the end of September, only returning to the usual level of £125,000 from 1 October.
Harper went on to say that stamp duty has a more than proportionate impact on transactions, because affordability is not just about the price of a property.
She said: “It is heavily influenced by mortgage lending. Investors and homebuyers can borrow against the property price, but they cannot use finance to fund transaction costs.”
At the same time, Harper noted that there is growing appetite from international investors picking up, which is expected to continue through 2021.
In times of global uncertainty, people want to put their money in a stable asset with low volatility and residential property in the UK has a ‘bond-like’ appeal internationally.
Harper said: “Other important drivers of the housing market through 2021 include cheap debt as a result of very low interest rates, which give buyers a ‘discount’.
“As well as, the continued desire to improve surroundings among existing homeowners, and the ‘flight to safety’ amongst all kinds of investors, both UK-based and overseas.”
