Residential transactions across England and Wales fell by 41% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to research collected by GetAgent.co.uk.
Residential transactions across England and Wales fell by 41% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to research collected by GetAgent.co.uk.
The data shows that 936,822 residential transactions took place in 2019, falling to 552,145 in 2020.
Overall, the City of London saw the lowest number of transactions, with just 80 sales taking place.
Buckinghamshire noted the largest decline in overall market activity, with the number of transactions falling from 8,304 to 1,705, an 80% decline year-on-year.
Newham saw the second greatest decline in property sales and the largest in London, with the number falling 59% from 3,173 to 1,308.
The data outlined that Salford, Corby, Selby, Cardiff, Rutland, South Derbyshire and Vale of Glamorgan all noted a 50% or above decline annually in residential transactions.
Colby Short, founder and chief executive of GetAgent.co.uk, said: “There’s been a lot of talk about how the market has rebounded from the depths of lockdown restrictions at the start of last year and this is true, to an extent.
"The reopening of the market and the introduction of a stamp duty holiday added serious fuel to the fire causing property values to climb as a result.
However, the downside of such overwhelming demand is that many of these transactions became jammed in the hopper of the home selling process, largely due to the lethargic nature of the backend legal process of selling in England and Wales.
"As a result, many of these transactions are still waiting to complete many months after an offer was formerly accepted.
"When you couple this logjam with the initial property industry paralysis caused by COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdown restrictions, the market has actually seen quite a notable decline in transactions when compared to 2019.”
