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Sales of agreed UK property jumped by almost a third year on year to the end of 2024 as buyers race to avoid an increase in stamp duty from next April, according to data from Zoopla.
A survey carried out by the property portal reported on Monday that there are 283,000 sales agreed but not yet completed since December 14, the largest pipeline of sales in four years and increased by 30 percent by the end of 2023.
Consumer inquiries were up 21 percent in December compared to the same period last year. The company mentioned the two options in the incoming stamp duty, which Chancellor Rachel Reeves explained to him. Budget for October.
Richard Donnell, managing director at Zoopla, said: “There is a large pipeline of sales to be completed in the first half of 2025 with many hoping to avoid higher stamp duty costs from next April.”
“Buyers and sellers returned to the housing market in 2024 with delays facing higher mortgage rates,” he added.
Reeves confirmed in the Budget that the temporary stamp duty holiday will end in March. As a result, first-time buyers, for example, will from April 2025 start paying tax on properties worth £300,000 or more, instead of £425,000 now.
Anticipation of changes to stamp duty regulations helped lift mortgage approvals to their highest level since August 2022 in October, according to separate data published by the Bank of England.
Matt Thompson, head of marketing at Chestertons, said the estate agency “saw its busiest December in terms of customer demand”.
“This is mainly driven by first-time buyers who are keen to get into the property phase before the stamp duty changes next year, but also second-hand buyers who include young families, who want to upscale,” he added.
UK house prices rose 3.7 percent year-on-year in Novemberthe fastest annual growth since November 2022, according to separate data published by Nationwide in early December.
Zoopla reported annual housing price increases in December, compared to the previous month. But it also noted that consumers have been more affected by rates after the Autumn Budget and amid growing uncertainty over the outlook for mortgage rates.
Buyers paid an average of 3.6 percent less than the property's value in December, Zoopla data showed, up from 3.2 percent in the summer.
Interest rates were raised in November due to concerns about stubborn inflation, which has raised financial market expectations that the Bank of England will be cautious about cutting interest rates next year.
The central bank holds the benchmark rate to 4.75 percent last week, after reducing twice since the summer. After the latest vote, BOE governor Andrew Bailey said “increasing economic uncertainty” meant policymakers could not “commit to when or how much we will cut rates next year”.
Zoopla expects UK house prices to rise by 2.5 per cent by 2025. Thompson forecasts growth of 3.4 percent, saying “improved affordability, pent-up demand and renewed confidence in the market should provide support for sustained growth in property prices”.