An analysis reveals that while Christmas is often considered a traditionally quiet time of the year for the property market because of buyers and sellers putting their plans on hold until the new year, this certainly does not mean there will be a drop in the number of transactions completing
GetAgent analysed the monthly number of properties sold in each month of the year over the past decade, as well as just how many homebuyers received a new home for Christmas in 2022 due to completing on the 25th of December.
The analysis reveals that while Christmas is often considered a traditionally quiet time of the year for the property market because of buyers and sellers putting their plans on hold until the new year, this certainly does not mean there will be a drop in the number of transactions completing.
In fact, over the past 10 years, an average of 83,616 property sales have completed on a monthly basis each and every month. Nevertheless, when looking especially at the month of December, this jumps to an average of 88.673 – a 6 per cent rise.
What’s more, in no less than 7 of the last 10 years, the number of transactions completing has actually risen between November and December.
But while December remains a comparatively busy time of the year for home sellers and buyers, the chances of finding a new home under the tree on Christmas Day are slim.
GetAgent evaluated sold price data from the Land Registry and found that last year, just 6 sales completed between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. This equates to 0.001 per cent of the 810,450 homes to have sold across England and Wales in 2022.
Three of these sales completed on Christmas Eve, one on Boxing Day and just two on Christmas Day itself.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, said: Christmas is often considered a bit of a lull period for the property market and this is true in some respects.
There is almost certainly a decline in the number of motivated buyers and sellers pushing ahead to agree a sale, as plans are put on hold until after the festive break. At the same time, many progressing sales will see a slight delay because of the reduced office hours and staff numbers of estate agents, solicitors and other required parties.
However, for those nearing the home selling and buying finish line, December is business as usual, and market activity has actually sat above the monthly average benchmark over the past decade during the month of December.