Conveyancing transactions fall by 100,000 in 2019

731,799 transactions were recorded over the three quarters compared to 832,684 in 2016, which Search Acumen attributes to Brexit uncertainties.

Transaction volumes fell by 4% between Q1 and Q3 compared to the same period in 2018 and are down 23% compared to Q1-Q3 2017.

However, while 2019 activity has unfolded at a slower pace, conveyancing volumes rebounded by nearly 8% between Q2 and Q3, with a leap of more than 5,500 transactions for the top ten biggest conveyancers.

The number of active firms dipped slightly between Q2 and Q3 to 4,024 - the second lowest figure since the tracker began in 2011. Almost 250 fewer firms are doing business since the EU referendum result.

The research also found that the top 1,000 conveyancing firms have continued to strengthen their hold on the market, controlling 75.6% of transaction activity - an all-time high.

However Search Acumen says that while the biggest firms have been able to make short-term gains more effectively than smaller firms, Brexit inaction has still hit their monthly business.

The average number of cases for the top 200 firms was up 9% on the last quarter but average transactions for those firms is down by 8% on three years ago.

Andy Sommerville, director of Search Acumen, commented: “Every passing quarter of 2019 has brought more political headwinds to the property market due to Brexit related uncertainty. One hundred thousand fewer transactions so far this year compared to 2016 is an indicator of the ‘Brexit effect’ on an already cooling property market.

“It’s been a tough three years for the industry, but that said, a tricky market has made it clear how effectively large conveyancing firms are now able to win and retain business. But big firms have a physical limit to how much more market share they can gain. There’s only so many conveyancers they can hire to execute so many transactions in a month. We’re going to soon reach an inflection point where the top firms can’t grow without wholesale changes to how they do business.

“To keep growing, bigger firms need to start to think about combining human and digital insights to a greater extent. They need to assess how many transactions they can currently process and investigate what they could be doing if they invested in better technology. Too many firms we speak to see technology as a ‘nice to have’. But it’s more than that now – technology investment is the key to getting ahead in a competitive climate.

“The smart firms are gearing up for more business in the coming quarters because as our recent trackers have proved, the days of the small occasional conveyancer are over. So regardless of market movements, there will be more opportunity out there for bigger conveyancers – the winners will be able to solve how to most effectively handle more volume without over-burdening their conveyancers.”