The number of active conveyancing firms has fell by 5 per cent in 2019 to a record low of 3,920, research by Search Acumen has found.

The data insight firm reports that transactions were down by 15 per cent  year on year to 226,444 in the fourth quarter of 2019 – the lowest level for more than two years.

Looking at the changes from Q3 to Q4, there was an 8 per cent drop in transactions.

While the total number of firms was in decline, there was a slight increase in the number of “occasional conveyancers” in the final quarter of 2019.

Search Acumen found the number of firms carrying out 1-5 transactions a month increased by 3 per cent from Q3 to 1,678.

This may be the result of firms that usually have higher business volumes experiencing a quiet end to the year.

Bigger firms were worst hit as the top 1,000 conveyancers by volume reported a quarterly drop of 14 per cent to 161,120 in the final three months of the year.

This figure was down even more steeply year on year, with transactions 20 per cent lower than in Q4 2018.

On the other hand, firms outside the top 1,000 saw an 8 per cent increase in transactions from Q3 to 65,324.

However, this was still 2 per cent lower than Q4 2018.

Search Acumen director Andy Sommerville says: “The curtain call for 2019 couldn’t come soon enough for a conveyancing market which was rocked by political peaks and troughs, prompting several indicators to annual or even record lows in Q4. 

“What has come as a surprise is the comeback of smaller conveyancers which gives us hope that the market is not broken from top to bottom, but remains in need of transformation.

“Despite the market slowdown, property buyers and investors have not made a flight to the top but instead continue to work with smaller conveyancers who bring local, well-honed expertise to the table.”

Sommerville says that firms now face the challenge of a surge in demand as the backlog of transactions feeds through now that confidence is returning to the market.