The UK housing market continued to show signs of recovery as residential property transaction data for July pointed to a significant increase in completed sales.
According to HMRC, 80,490 residential property transactions completed across the UK on an unadjusted basis during July. This was up from 67,060 transactions in June, although still below the 104,780 homes sold during the same month in 2019.
Looking specifically at England, 71,190 residential property transactions completed in July, slightly exceeding the 71,030 transactions recorded in January. This marked a notable recovery in activity given that much of the property sector had only resumed operations from mid-May following the national lockdown.
The figures suggested that transaction levels were returning towards pre-pandemic levels relatively quickly, supported by pent-up buyer demand and the reopening of the housing market.
The temporary Stamp Duty holiday was announced on 8 July, meaning its full impact on buyer activity and completed transactions was not expected to be reflected in the HMRC data until later in the year.
