Search Acumen comments on the HMRC’s property transactions data for July 2023

Andy Sommerville , Director at Search Acumen, the property data and insight provider, comments:

“Year on year we’re now seeing reductions in transaction volumes across residential and commercial markets. Despite some progress being made in the battle against inflation in recent months, living and operational costs still remain very high by historic standards, as does the cost of borrowing. It is unavoidable that these dynamics will impact demand and pricing.

 “This marks a significant recalibration of the market dynamics that prevailed in the decade preceding the Pandemic. In the housing market, we are looking at a period of reduced market activity until house prices, real income and borrowing costs come into better balance. In the commercial markets, we will see investors reassessing their portfolios, looking for sectors that are capable of outperforming all property benchmarks in the current conditions.

 “In this market, everyone is on high alert for a competitive advantage, whether that’s house hunters trying to get the most for their money, or commercial portfolio managers trying to identify asset classes that could buck the general trend. Technology and data are crucial tools that can give homeowners and real estate professionals that edge, and those that succeed will do so because of the data they have available to them to inform decision making along with their ability to drive efficiencies through digital transformation.”