"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"
- Colby Short - GetAgent
The latest research by estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, has shown that whilst market confidence has grown considerably since the Bank of England decided to hold the base rate at 5.25% in September last year, this positivity is only just filtering through with respect to transactional volumes, with the number of monthly sales completing across the UK property market tipping the 100,000 threshold for the first time since December 2022.
GetAgent analysed the latest Gov UK data on the average number of monthly transactions seen between December 2021 and August 2023 whilst interest rates were climbing and how this level of market activity has changed since September 2023 when the Bank of England first held the base rate at 5.25%.
The research shows that, between December 2021 and August 2023 when interest rates were climbing consistently, an average (median) of 99,510 transactions completed across the UK market on a monthly basis.
During this time, the number of transactions completing also increased by an average of 2.2% per month.
The analysis also shows that between September 2023 and July 2024 - the period during which the base rate was held at 5.25% - the average number of transactions seen on a monthly basis fell to just 87,940 per month - declining at an average monthly rate of -2.2%.
The good news is that the latest figures for August suggest 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 seen throughout the month increased by 7.6% versus July.
What’s more, some 104,330 transactions were completed across the UK property market in August, the first time that this monthly figure has tipped the 100,000 mark since December 2022.
Co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented: “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 when transaction levels are concerned.”
