Ranking months, highest to lowest, since January 1995, for completed property sales, only March 2016, post-financial crisis, features in the top 100 months, with 56,183 completed property transactions registered by the Land Registry.
HouseSimple.com looked at completed property transactions registered by the Land Registry in 80 major towns and cities, dating back to January 1995 (when records began). The research reveals that the average number of properties sold in a single month pre-2008 - before the financial crash - is almost two-thirds higher (62.4%) than the average number of completed sales since the crisis.
Between January 1995 and December 2007, there were on average 43,898 completed property transactions recorded each month, compared to just 27,023 between January 2008 and present day.
The three lowest months for property sales since January 1995, when Land Registry records began, were the first three months of 2009, less than six months after Lehman Brothers collapsed, and the financial crash started in earnest. The lowest ever month for completed property sales was January 2009, when the Land Registry recorded just 11,740 sales.
This is in stark contrast to the number of properties sold during 2002, with three of the top four biggest months for completed property transactions in this year, and all three months seeing property sales exceed 60,000. May 2002 saw the highest month ever for completed property sales, at 61,904.
London
According to HouseSimple research, the worst month since 1995 for completed property transactions was February 2009, with just 3,251 properties sold. This compares with the best month, July 1999, when there were 18,420 completed transactions.
Again, similar to UK sold figures, the only month post global financial crisis that appear in the top 100 best months for sold property transactions, was March 2016 with 17,501 completed transactions.
Sam Mitchell, CEO, online estate agents HouseSimple.com comments: “These figures show the lasting impact the global financial crisis has had on the UK property market. Although monthly numbers have recovered, and are more than twice the level they were in 2009, completed transactions still appear extremely low. For example, in September 2017, there were 25,477 completed transactions, more than 18,000 less than average monthly sales pre-2008.
It is worth bearing in mind that leading up to the financial crisis in 2008, we were seeing a country-wide, and unsustainable buying frenzy. Since the crash, and post-2009 when pretty much every UK town and city saw property transactions hit rock bottom, you could say that many regional property markets have been operating at a level that is more sustainable. London is the major exception, as the reaction to the global crash, was an influx of overseas buyers looking for a safe haven for their money, and crazy price growth. But even the London market has now slowed, and we are seeing more sensible buyer and seller activity. It feels like the UK housing market has entered a new era; one based on strong fundamentals not panic and an obsession with capital growth.”
