Value of house sales up 26% in 2020, says Zoopla

The total value of homes sold in 2020 will rise 26% by the end of the year compared to 2019 as the market has surged in the wake of the spring coronavirus lockdown.

The latest figures from property portal Zoopla indicate the total value of 2020 house sales will top £300bn, £62bn more than last year.

The firm said that with the total number of sales having only risen by 9%, the bulk of the difference came from the fact more expensive properties were being transacted, with the market strongest in the wealthiest areas.

It said the total value of sales in the East and South east regions of England was 37% higher than in 2019.

The growth in transactions have come despite the fact the housing market was effectively closed for six weeks during the spring lockdown, a point a which most forecaster were predicting big falls in prices and housing market activity.

However, Zoopla said house prices were now up 3.9% year on year – lower than the 5.4% rise in prices recorded in official figures, to October, released last week.

Zoopla said annual price growth looked set to plateau at around 5% year on year in the early part of 2021.

Since lockdown the market has been boosted by a government cut in Stamp Duty particularly benefitting more expensive properties, pent up demand, and the sense homeowners have reassessed their living priorities during lockdown, making many decide to opt for bigger homes.

The firm said year on year price growth for houses had reached 4.3%, more than double the 1.8% average price growth seen for flats.

Richard Donnell, research and insight director at Zoopla, said: “2020 has been a rollercoaster year with the pandemic unlocking a sizable amount of latent demand for housing that has pushed prices higher and led to a 26% increase in the value of homes sold over the year.”