HMRC, which collects Stamp Duty on every property transaction over £125,000 revealed that 111,080 homes were ought in November last year, a level not achieved since November 207.

Transactions fell back slightly in December, by 3%.

Based on provisional figures for December, transactions in England fell by 1.8% to 93,510 compared to the previous month with Wales experiencing a similar slowdown of 2.6% to 4,560.

Meanwhile Scottish property transactions fell by 15% to 7,750 compared to the previous month while Northern Ireland experienced a decrease of 11% to 1,800 transactions.

Overall transactions in December were 35% higher than December 2012. Individually, England also saw a 35% rise in year-on-year transactions with Wales closely following with a 30% increase.

Slightly lagging behind, Northern Ireland’s property transactions rose 28% year-on-year, while Scotland experienced a slower growth in transactions at 22%.

Prior to the end of 2007 property transactions had risen steadily over a number of years until they reached their peak at around 150,000 per month. Following the sharp fall in residential transactions at the end of 2007, coinciding with the housing market slump and credit crunch, recorded sales began a slow but consistent upward trajectory from December 2008.

This trend has picked up its pace since April of last year, peaking in November.