Residential transactions hold steady in March: HMRC

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, transactions were approximately 2.7% lower than March 2019.

Neil Knight, business development director at Spicerhaart Part-Exchange and Assisted Move, commented: “The March property market was a ‘game of two halves’.

“Lockdown restrictions came into force towards the end of the month, but the impact of coronavirus was already starting to filter through before that, putting a damper on the recovery that had been building over the last three months.

“The result is that residential transactions have remained broadly stable – a slight drop of 0.2% from the previous month, and still 0.3% higher than in March 2019.

“The true impact of Covid-19 will show up in April’s figures but what seems clear is that there is still strong demand out there. With the measures the government has put in place to keep the economy ticking over, much of that will still be there once the restrictions are lifted.

“In the meantime, there are still transactions happening, and the industry is quickly adapting to new ways of working, helping as many people as possible make their dream move in spite of the current nightmare circumstances.”

Tomer Aboody, director of MT Finance, added: "These figures are tentative and likely to be revised but show that residential transactions fell slightly in March compared with February, perhaps suggesting that the possible impact of Covid-19 was starting to be felt, even before the full extent of the crisis had become apparent. That said, residential transactions were still higher compared with March 2019."