Government figures show that, seasonally adjusted, there were 99,440 residential property transactions in March this year, up 0.3 per cent annually.

Transactions were down 0.2 per cent compared to February 2020, however.

This equates to an 8.8 per cent drop on the year and is 1.8 per cent lower than in February.

The numbers only cover transactions of £40,000 or more as below this level home buyers do not have to register the purchase with HMRC.

Meanwhile, non-residential property transactions came in at 9,470.

Wayhome chief operating officer Nigel Purves comments: “These figures begin to show what many might expect from Coronavirus’ impact on the housing market.

“Considering the government’s lockdown only came into effect towards the end of March, and these transactions represent the whole month, this set of data will be one to watch in the coming months as we understand more about the disruption and uncertainty linked to Covid-19.”

MT Property Finance director Tomer Aboody says: “These figures are tentative and likely to be revised but show that residential transactions fell slightly in March compared with February, perhaps suggesting that the possible impact of Covid-19 was starting to be felt, even before the full extent of the crisis had become apparent. That said, residential transactions were still higher compared with March 2019.

“The fall in non-residential transactions indicates a lack of confidence in commercial and retail, again, likely linked to Coronavirus. Businesses have been hit hard, although they may come through with government assistance, but inevitably some will falter.

“We can see from the historic charts that rises and falls in transactions correlate to global economic factors, which will certainly be the case over the next few months. Hopefully, with government intervention over stamp duty, we could see a spike in transactions towards the end of this year and into next.”