Residential property transactions rose by six per cent in February when compared to the same month last year, figures from HMRC show.
There were 103,870 transactions during the month, 4.5 per cent more than January 2020.
Positivity should remain
Mike Scott, chief property analyst at Yopa, said the figures showed that before the current coronavirus crisis, the housing market was on an upward trend – a positive sign for the market.
“The pandemic emergency is now affecting the housing market but these figures show that the underlying trend is positive and the market should come bounding back once the crisis has passed,” he added.
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said this should give property professionals hope.
He added: “If most buyers and sellers are able to press the pause rather than the stop button, and not too many of the fundamentals change, there may be some good business to return to in hopefully the not-too-distant future.”
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
