The latest figures from HMRC, although provisional, illustrate how the market had begun to recover following its re-opening in May but suggest it was still being impacted by the effects of pandemic and lockdown.
Indeed, the number of residential property transactions rose by 31.7% in June from 48,030 in May to 63,250 in June.
Meanwhile, the number of non-residential transactions went up by 31%, rising from 5,600 in May to 7,340 in June.
HMRC said the provisional figures for Quarter 2 (Q2) 2020 were the lowest quarterly total since it began charting these figures. Indeed, the impact of the coronavirus caused a dip in the chart lower than that seen during the financial crisis.
However, the fact the figures were back on the rise again was enough to offer hope to those impacted by housing transactions.
Richard Pike, sales and marketing director of Phoebus Software said: “Although the figures from HMRC today are provisional, and we are advised to accept them with caution, these are not the only signs that the housing market is on the move again.
“When you add in the Chancellor’s announcement on stamp duty you would hope that this upward trend is set to continue.
“Coming out of lockdown, even with an air of caution, has given many people the impetus to pick up where they left off.
“Whereas for others, especially those who have been living in flats with little or no outside space during lockdown, may be thinking that now is the time to look for a new home.
“All the signs are positive so now it’s up to the lenders to jump into action, while the demand is there.”
Some way to go
There were still some concerns about how easy it might be to recover from such a big shock. Mike Scott, chief property analyst at Yopa said there was ‘still some way to go’ particularly in the UK nations outside of England.
He added: “We expect to see a further improvement in these figures next month, as the housing markets in Scotland and Wales have reopened, more transactions that were in progress before 23 March move forward to completion and the first post-lockdown sales begin to complete.
“However, it will take a while longer before we reach a normal level of activity, let alone begin to catch up on some of the missing sales that would normally have occurred between April and June.”
