Over a decade, transactions have more than doubled while conveyancing firms fall 10% | Search Acumen

According to the latest data analysis from Search Acumen, property transaction volumes in England have skyrocketed over the past decade. In 2012, there were 714,000 transactions; however, now they are close to 1.3 million - nearly doubling in just 10 years! This is akin to house prices which also saw a 77% increase during this time period.

According to Search Acumen, the market's significant expansion has had "a surprising effect" on conveyancer volumes - resulting in active firms gradually reducing year-on-year.

Over the course of the past 10 years, data indicates a downward drop in numbers by 10%.

The latest Conveyancing Market Tracker (CMT) has uncovered that the pressure on solicitors is especially evident in their average workload, which increased by a whopping 79% over the past decade.

Despite the levels of active companies stabilising to those prevailing before the pandemic in quarter four last year, they remain significantly lower than 2012's mark of 17,855 - with only 16,138 now.

During the fourth quarter, an overwhelming 39.5% of all transactions were credited to only the 200 most successful firms - a staggering 3% increase from 10 years ago when it was 36.5%.

According to Search Acumen, those firms with the resources to invest in technology and personnel are dominating within this competitive market.

In comparison to the same period last year, data from the tracker reveals that 20.5% of all transactions in Q4 were attributed to the top 50 firms.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, this rate was 19.3%. Each 1% increase equates to an additional 3,000 transactions based on current market levels.

In comparison, activity for firms outside the top 1,000 decreased slightly in Q4 of last year by 1.3%, accounting for 24.6% of all transactions versus 25.9% one year prior.

Despite the market tracker showing a steady increase in transaction volumes over the past decade, if we look at more recent activity from Q4 of 2022 compared to 2021, it's nearly identical (+1%).

According to Search Acumen, it appears that the market is beginning to stabilise.

This quarter, the typical number of transactions for all businesses dropped from 80 to 77, a decrease of 4% compared to last quarter.

In comparison to the fourth quarter of 2021, when firms averaged a similar number of transactions (76), this year saw a noteworthy increase.

Landmark Information Group revealed an alarming increase in the time it takes to close a residential deal, with average transaction times now at 132 days compared to 82 days back in 2007.

With consumers feeling anxious about the unpredictability of upcoming UK house prices, Search Acumen anticipates a possible decrease in conveyancing transactions throughout this period.

Despite its upward trend, experts anticipate that external economic factors will limit 2022's flourishing success.

Search Acumen director Andy Sommerville says: “It’s been an unprecedented decade of pressure on the conveyancing sector, which culminated in the extreme levels of market activity during the pandemic and post-pandemic period.”

“With transaction volumes rising while firm numbers have consistently fallen, this has obviously created new commercial opportunities, but equally put huge strain on lawyers to meet the needs of the market through some of the most challenging years we’ve ever seen.”

“We cannot underestimate how critical the UK conveyancing sector has been in keeping the property sector going, with lawyers going above and beyond, putting themselves at risk of burnout to meet the needs of their clients. Beyond conveyancing, the result of these efforts will have been a contribution to the UK economy that similarly cannot be overlooked or overstated.”

“Looking back on the last ten years, we have to recognise the incredible contribution of conveyancers first and foremost. But, we equally need to understand that a decade of rapid technological advancement has built new resilience and put the sector in a position to thrive, even in the most challenging of contexts.”

“Over the last 10 years, we have seen increasing adoption of digital solutions and processes, analytics, big data and transformative tech like AI and ML. Without these technologies the market’s performance, especially during the pandemic, might have been markedly different.”

“Similarly, the ability of the sector to grow and deal with future challenges in the decade to come will depend on further technological innovation that supports the expertise and commitment of legal professionals, drives operational efficiencies, and reduces costs for firms and their clients.”