Property sales soared ahead in Britain as investors rushed to beat the rise in stamp duty.
Transactions surged in March before the extra 3% stamp duty on additional property was imposed on 1 April.
Prices went up as demand rose, leading to more than 4% rise in most UK cities. The sharpest rate of increase was marked in Liverpool, which is likely to have been due to the affordability of property there and the prospect of attracting renters for buy-to-let landlords.
The purchases were concentrated predominately in cities. Manchester and Leeds also experienced price hikes, but the highest yearly rise was in Cambridge with more than 15% increase over March last year, followed closely by London.
Sales were recorded at the highest quarterly rate in 12 years but analysts believe that the level of sales was related to the tax surcharge on additional home purchases.
Consequently, sales are predicted to taper off sharply now that the deadline has passed and the additional tax is in place and with the uncertainty of the EU referendum on the economy and mortgage rates.
HMRC revealed that 161,990 properties were sold in March, up 77% from March 2015.
