The housing market is set for the busiest December in over a decade as buyers rush to beat the stamp duty deadline, according to the latest Zoopla figures.

“Buyers need to move fast, with just half of property sales agreed in January set to complete in time to make the potential tax saving”, says the portal.

The property portal estimates that there will be 140,000 completions next month, the highest December figure since 2006 when there were 158,000.

It says that agreed during the week to November 15 were 38 per cent higher than they were in the same week last year.

Zoopla expects that the total number of sales in 2020 will be down by 6 per cent on last year as a result of lockdown.  Meanwhile, the portal says house prices have increased by 3.5 per cent to £223,500 in the year to October.

Although it’s been a roller coaster year for the housing market, the year is forecast to end on a strong note.  Demand and sales agreed are 34 per cent higher than this time last year, with house price growth hitting a three-year high and set to increase further in the short term, according to Zoopla figures.

Zoopla’s research team is anticipating the first quarter of next year will see the current boom continue as 100,000 additional sales try to complete ahead of the stamp duty deadline on 31st March.

“Demand levels are set to hold firm for the remainder of the year, and the monthly sales completions estimate suggests the strongest December – and run up to Christmas – for over a decade. We then anticipate a further demand spike in January 2021, as some buyers leave it late to enter the market in an attempt to beat the stamp duty deadline” says the portal.

The volume of new sales agreed is running 38 per cent higher than a year ago, adding to the pipeline of business set to complete in the first quarter of 2021.

Source: https://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/property-news/house-price-index-october/

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