HMRC: House sales up in December

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by Kay Murchie

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has revealed a rise in the number of homes sold in December in the UK.

According to HMRC, 104,000 homes worth at least £40,000 or more were sold in the month - the first time in two years that the number has exceeded the 100,000 mark.

Furthermore, the number is far higher than in January 2009 when just 41,000 properties were sold. This represented the smallest amount of transactions in any month since records began in 1977.

Meanwhile, for the 2009 year, HMRC said 848,000 homes were sold - however, a slight fall from the 920,000 sold in 2008.

In comparison, 2006 saw a record of transactions completed with 1.67 million houses sold.

The recovery in the housing market over the last six months has surprised many analysts but most experts are only predicting small gains within the market in 2010.