UK residential transactions last month stood at 147,050 according to the provisional seasonally adjusted estimate, up 48.5% on the year.

This is according to the latest HMRC Property Transaction data.

On a monthly basis, the estimate is 23% higher, with the figures at their highest since February 2007.

In regard to non-residential transactions in the UK in February, the figure was 10.2% higher year-on-year to hit 10,630, and 25.8% higher than the month before, says a Mortgage Introducer report.

Furthermore, the non-seasonally adjusted estimate of UK residential transactions was 122,840 last month, 48.3% higher than February last year, and 26.4% higher than January 2021.

Non-seasonally adjusted non-residential transactions in February this year were 9,230, 9.9% higher over the year and 27.7% higher than the previous month.

Guy Gittins, chief executive of Chestertons said of the findings: “While there is no doubt that there are a lot of people very keen to move home, many didn’t feel comfortable starting the process until they had some idea of when the country might be out of lockdown.

“Once this was provided, we noticed an immediate uplift in new buyers registering with us, and the subsequent announcement confirming the extension of the stamp duty holiday only added to this.

“As the country emerges from lockdown, we expect moving home will be many people’s top priority; just as we saw after the first lockdown; and are therefore anticipating a very busy spring and summer market.”

He added: “We currently have around 70% more properties on the market for sale than we did last year.

“This is good news for buyers as it means that substantial price increases are relatively unlikely for the time being and that there are generally more homes to choose from,” he continued.