Despite the decision for the UK to leave the EU in the recent referendum, the UK property market seems to be largely unaffected with residential property transactions rising by 4.9% from May to June 2016.
According to recent figures from HMRC, the month of June saw just over 105,000 properties sold, (94,550 residential transactions and 10,930 non-residential transactions) roughly 6,000 more transactions and a 4.9% increase in activity in comparison to the previous month.
This month to month rise activity could be due to increased interest in property investment from overseas, with the value of the pound sterling falling post-referendum. This growth in transactions could also be a sign of the market simply returning to normal, as changes such as higher stamp duty rates in April could have delayed a number of deals.
This is a theory backed and welcomed by many property experts, including MD of Stirling Ackroyd, Andrew Bridges, who states, “After stamp duty changes early in the year leading to buyers tightening their pockets, it’s great to see buying and selling approaching a new period of Brexit-related obstacles with a sense of vitality.”
While these latest statistics are good signs of an improving market, there still seems to be a way to go when compared to the same period last year. June 2015 recorded a total of 115,130 property transactions (105,340 residential and 9,790 non-residential) with 10.2% more deals completed than June 2016.
CEO of My Home Move, Doug Crawford has also commented on the current state of the market, claiming that it would be incredibly difficult to pinpoint how much of an affect Brexit will have throughout the year but early signs are encouraging.
Crawford stated “While the number of property transactions remain below the levels seen a year earlier, a 4.9% increase between May and June is very encouraging. My Home Move’s own data suggests that the number of completions in June 2016 was actually 2.7% higher than in June 2015.’
Crawford went on to say ‘The June increase shows that the property market mostly shook off the uncertainty from the Brexit referendum at the end of the month. This reflects our experience as most purchases went ahead without any issues. The big question now is what the impact will be for the rest of the year,’
The EU vote is still quite raw and while its impact will be hard to predict, we should get a much clearer view of things in the coming months.
