The number of people looking to buy a house per estate agent branch dipped by 41 per cent from November 2020 to December 2020, says NAEA Propertymark.

At 348 potential buyers each, however, this is still the highest number seen in the month of December since 2016.

Additionally, the highest number of sales agreed per branch on average dropped from 13 to eight, while still being the biggest number seen in December since 2006.

The number of first-time buyers also dropped at the end of last year, making up 23 per cent of sales per branch in December 2020 compared to 24 per cent in November 2020.

And bucking the trend seen above, this was a fall from the 29 per cent recorded in December 2019.

Supply also tightened, according to the data: the number of properties available at each branch, on average, fell from 40 in November 2020 to 33 in December 2020.

The data also shows that just 5 per cent of properties sold at the end of last year sold for more than their asking price, which is down from 10 per cent in November 2020.

Propertymark chief policy adviser Mark Hayward says: “While we would ordinarily expect to see a lull over the festive period, these numbers show that the tightening of lockdown restrictions, coupled with the reality that many individuals would no longer meet the stamp duty deadline, has exacerbated this.

“we are increasingly concerned about the pressure this is placing on the property industry with more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of estate agents expecting to see an increase in failed sales due to buyers realising their sales will not complete ahead of the deadline. It’s important that action is taken now to prevent this and support the property sector.”