mortgage lending

Is the Brexit effect finally over? Conveyancers and lenders report improving property market

Both conveyancers and mortgage lenders say the property market has recovered significantly in recent months, signalling a return to ‘business as usual’ in many areas of the country. This includes the workload of conveyancing solicitors which has risen to its highest for a year, with some firms experiencing an increase of up to 27% over the past three months, says data firm Search Acumen. Its Market Tracker reveals that transactions “bounced back” between July and September compared to the previous three months, when transactions nosedived. Between July and September conveyancing volumes increased from 210,964 to 254,606 or 21% between the two quarters. Search Acumen says the increase in case-load came directly from an improvement in the property market. But although the number of homes being sold has surged ahead recently, Search Acumen says the property market still has some way to go before it returns to complete health; transactions levels are still 6% down year-on-year, it says. “After the noticeable dip in conveyancing activity revealed by the Q2 2017 edition of the Market Tracker, it’s encouraging to see an uptick in activity through the summer period,” says Andrew Lloyd, Managing Director of Search Acumen (pictured, left). “The conveyancing industry has broadly…