Property market poised to be busiest since 2006

Figures from UK Finance show that 2021 is on course to be the strongest year for UK home-buying activity since 2006. The trade body said that while the first few months of the pandemic led to predictions that sales would stagnate, the reality was very different, with “COVID-era activity set to eclipse everything since the credit crunch”. The figures come hard on the heels of forecasts from the property website Zoopla and other commentators that 2021 would be the UK's busiest year for the housing market since 2007. While official figures have shown that the number of house sales tumbled in the weeks immediately after the end of the stamp duty holiday, which finished on 30 September, this followed a record surge in activity during the latter half of 2020 and earlier this year. In its latest household finance review, covering the period July to September this year, UK Finance said: “Barring a complete reversal of the current picture, purchase transactions in 2021 will reach their highest level seen since the peak in 2006, just before the global financial crisis [of 2007–08].” 

The Guardian (06/12/.2021)