Housing transactions 'rise by almost half'

Posted: 23 Apr 2009 12:52:40 GMT

House purchases throughout Britain rose by 40 per cent in March this year, recent figures show.

Noting a rise of almost half between February and March 2009, the results from HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) show a distinct increase in the number of properties sold, prompting some speculation that the market has finally bottomed out.

Going back two years, however, property sales are still less than half that seen in March 2007, suggesting there is still a long way to go to ensure a healthy marketplace returns.

Earlier this week the Bank of England published its first Trends in Lending report, which commented on the state of credit. It suggested that the mortgage market, despite recent "green shoots", will not see a dramatic rise in health this year.

"Growth in the stock of lending to UK businesses slowed markedly during 2008 but looking ahead, some lenders expect the overall availability of credit to the corporate sector to increase over the next three months," it said.

"Growth in the stock of mortgage lending to individuals has slowed sharply since the start of the financial crisis as credit availability declined. Lenders expect the demand for secured credit to remain weak in coming months."

HMRC figures show that 60,000 properties were sold in March compared to 43,000 in February this year.


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