News
Stamp Duty rise brought April stampede on £1m homes
The number of million pound homes bought jumped to five times the seasonal average, with buyers rushing to complete before the 6 April to avoid the Stamp Duty rise.
The first five days of April brought a frenzy of activity as the duty increase from 4 to 5% on £1m + properties counteracted the slowing property market.
The double bank holiday weekend pushed transaction levels in the rest of the market down 6% to their second lowest level since 1995.
Top value transactions pushed up prices in London and the South East, but as many were cash purchases, these did little for the mortgage market – and all other regions saw prices fall in April.
Richard Sexton, business development director of e.surv comments: “Because so many people went away for the Easter and Royal wedding break, completions dropped by 6% – fully 8% below what we would normally expect at this time of year. The market remains hampered by tight mortgage lending, which has led sellers to batten down the hatches and wait for prices to rise, and has prevented buyers from entering the market without large cash deposits.”
This looks set to remain the case as the prospect of a rise in unemployment will create growing uncertainty as the year goes on, he said, which will inevitably force lenders to stick to their cautious lending criteria.”
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