Property sales agreed fell 8% last month, although the news was tempered with figures showing a record number of new instructions.

Data from TwentyEA shows that in May, SSTC (sold subject to contract) volumes dropped to 109,922 compared with 119,607 last year – a fall of 8.1%.

Highest ever

But supply is currently the highest TwentyEA has ever recorded with 794,210 new instructions tracked at the end of May for the year to date.

This is 2.7% higher than last year, and March 2026 was a particularly strong month with more than 175,000 properties coming to market.

Demand has fallen across all of Britain’s markets with the exception of Scotland, which was unaffected by the tax changes.

Inner London has experienced the sharpest contraction in demand of 11.2%, followed by the North West at 6.7%.

Across the bigger picture, the market remains very resilient.”

Nick Huntley, Director of TwentyEA (pictured), says: “This weakening of demand, seen particularly during May, points to a likely slowdown in transactions later in the year.

“However, across the bigger picture, the market remains very resilient. Demand is still nearly 15% higher than in 2023 and remains ahead of 2024 levels despite the ongoing affordability pressures, geopolitical uncertainty and higher mortgage costs.”

Uncertainty

TwentyEA has revised its sales forecast for the year from 1.2 million transactions to 1.13 million. This represents a 6.8% fall compared with 2025, but remains 2.6% higher than 2024.

The Middle East conflict has added a fresh layer of uncertainty to the British housing market, TwentyEA says, with price falls across all bands – but they are partly attributable to the changes in Stamp Duty last April.

Housing supply has expanded across every price band, led by properties priced below £200,000, where listings increased by 3.9% year-on-year. Fall-throughs are also down by 11.1% year-on-year to 115,025.

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