The number of monthly sales completed across the property market tipped the 100,000 threshold for the first time since December 2022, research by GetAgent.co.uk has shown.
GetAgent analysed Government data on the average number of monthly transactions between December 2021 and August 2023 while interest rates were climbing, and how this activity has changed since September 2023 when the Bank of England first held the base rate at 5.25%.
Between December 2021 and August 2023, an average of 99,510 transactions completed across the market on a monthly basis; the number of transactions completing increased by an average of 2.2% per month.
Between September 2023 and July 2024 – the period during which the base rate was held at 5.25% – the average number of transactions on a monthly basis fell to just 87,940 per month – declining at an average monthly rate of 2.2%.
The figures for August suggested that property market positivity is starting to filter through to transactional volumes.
Following the first base rate reduction in four years at the start of August, the number of transactions increased by 7.6% versus July.
Some 104,330 transactions completed across the UK property market in August, the first time that this monthly figure topped 100,000 since December 2022.
Colby Short, co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, said: “We’ve seen a high level of property market positivity so far this year and there’s no doubt that a hold on interest rates has helped to bring a greater degree of confidence to the market, with buyer activity in the way of mortgage approval levels increasing consistently in recent months.
“However, whilst this greater level of stability has helped entice buyers back to the fold, it’s only now that we’re seeing this filter through to an increase in transactional volumes, with total UK transactions exceeding the 100,000 threshold for the first time in almost two years.
“This is, of course, due to the time required to push a sale through from offer accepted to complete and so whilst the outlook for the year is good, we’re unlikely to see the market return to full strength until next year where transaction levels are concerned.”
