Research by leading estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has revealed that while the anti-work from home movement has been building amongst homebuyers across major cities in England, the original stamp duty holiday deadline saw transactions decline by -51% across England during Q1 of this year. <\/p>\n
Benham and Reeves analysed residential property transactions across England and five major cities and found that momentum has been returning to the market since the second quarter of last year. <\/p>\n
In the wake of industry lockdown restrictions, 107,491 transactions were registered across England in the second quarter of 2020, then climbing by 65% to 177,498 in the third quarter. The market surrounding Newcastle saw the biggest rebound, with a 75% increase in transactions in Tyne a Wear between Q2 and Q3.<\/p>\n
London saw the second largest uplift at 68%, followed by Greater Manchester (61%), Merseyside (59%) and then Birmingham (46%).<\/p>\n
Both the wider market and these major cities continued to see transaction levels climb between the third and final quarters of last year, with a 29% uplift quarter to quarter across England as a whole. <\/p>\n
However, following the Christmas period and with the initial March stamp duty deadline approaching, the market saw a notable retraction during the first quarter of 2021 where the number of transactions is concerned.<\/p>\n
During Q1, 112,450 transactions took place across England, a -51% reduction on the previous quarter although still marginally higher than Q2, 2020. <\/p>\n
Liverpool and the Merseyside area saw the largest reduction of the major cities analysed, with transactions down -57% on the previous quarter. Newcastle also saw a decline of -56%, followed by Greater Manchester (-54%), Birmingham (-52%) and then London (-45%).<\/p>\n
Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite much being made about the working from home trend causing a mass exodus of homebuyers from our major cities, this simply doesn\u2019t seem to have been the case as transaction levels have been climbing at a considerable rate throughout last year. <\/p>\n
However, it seems as though the original stamp duty deadline had a major influence on this level of market activity with transactions down by half during the first quarter of this year compared to the final quarter of 2020.<\/p>\n
With a staggered deadline in place and further incentives in the form of 95% mortgage products and a rehash of the Help to Buy scheme, it\u2019s unclear as to what extent the market will react to the impending stamp duty deadline and the extended deadline due in September. <\/p>\n
Although a natural correction is no doubt on the cards, this tapered approach should help reduce any major negative impact. In addition, with many of us now returning to work a further boost to buyer demand across our major cities should go some way in mitigating any decline in these areas of the market, at the very least.\u201d<\/p>\n
| Area<\/th>\n | Q2, 2020<\/th>\n | < Quarterly Change ><\/th>\n | Q3, 2020<\/th>\n | < Quarterly Change ><\/th>\n | Q4, 2020<\/th>\n | < Quarterly Change ><\/th>\n | Q1, 2021<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London (Greater London)<\/td>\n | 11,881<\/td>\n | 68%<\/td>\n | 19,953<\/td>\n | 23%<\/td>\n | 24,589<\/td>\n | -45%<\/td>\n | 13,536<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Manchester (Greater Manchester)<\/td>\n | 5,409<\/td>\n | 61%<\/td>\n | 8,714<\/td>\n | 24%<\/td>\n | 10,823<\/td>\n | -54%<\/td>\n | 5,011<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Birmingham<\/td>\n | 1,766<\/td>\n | 46%<\/td>\n | 2,581<\/td>\n | 24%<\/td>\n | 3,198<\/td>\n | -52%<\/td>\n | 1,526<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Liverpool (Merseyside)<\/td>\n | 2,863<\/td>\n | 59%<\/td>\n | 4,548<\/td>\n | 25%<\/td>\n | 5,663<\/td>\n | -57%<\/td>\n | 2,454<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Newcastle (Tyne and Wear)<\/td>\n | 2,132<\/td>\n | 75%<\/td>\n | 3,729<\/td>\n | 16%<\/td>\n | 4,330<\/td>\n | -56%<\/td>\n | 1,897<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| ENGLAND<\/td>\n | 107,491<\/td>\n | 65%<\/td>\n | 177,498<\/td>\n | 29%<\/td>\n | 229,686<\/td>\n | -51%<\/td>\n | 112,450<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Research by leading estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has revealed that while the anti-work from home movement has been building amongst homebuyers across major cities in England, the original stamp duty holiday deadline saw transactions decline by -51% across England during Q1 of this year. Benham and Reeves analysed residential property transactions across England and … <\/p>\n |