23
Jun
Housing transactions down 37% year-on-year in May
New data from HM Revenue and Customs reveals that the number of
housing transactions fell by nearly 37 per cent year-on-year in
May.
The department announced today that property transactions numbered
100,000 last month, which is 13 per cent lower than in April.
Meanwhile, it found that there were 504,000 sales in the first five
months of this year worth more than the stamp duty notification
limit, compared with 743,000 such sales during the same period in
2007.
Commenting on the figures, Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the
Royal Institution of Chartered surveyors, told Reuters: "These
numbers clearly highlight the very real pressure on the residential
property market."
The Council of Mortgage Lenders released similar data to HM Revenue
and Customs' last week, stating that number of housing transactions
are currently 40 per cent down on last year's level.
