Some 115,190 transactions took place in November 2020, marking an 8.6% increase compared with October and 19.3% higher than in November 2019. The “nil rate” band for residential stamp duty was increased to £500,000 from July 8 2020 to March 31 2021 for transactions in England and Northern Ireland. Across the UK, house sales were down by 50% in April and May this year compared with the same period a year earlier, following the impact of coronavirus restrictions. Gareth Lewis, commercial director of property lender MT Finance, said: “It is encouraging to see the trend for property transactions continue on its upwards trajectory, with plenty of demand and purchases going through. “However, despite these numbers showing a still-accelerating trend, they reflect sales which were agreed several months previously.

Source: Irish Independent December 22, 2020 11:05 UTC