March saw 12,706 flat sale and purchase agreements received for registration, down 5.3% on February but up 57.6% on March last year, the Land Registry says.

Using a 12-month moving average, the March figure was 12,801, rising 3.1% on February and 71.1% on the same month last year. Total consideration was $58.1 billion, up 19.3% on February and 103.1% on a year earlier.

Of the sale and purchase pacts, 10,860 were for residential units, down 7.4% on February but up 52.9% on March 2009. The total consideration was $48.4 billion, up 18.6% on February and 90% on a year earlier.

There were 568,586 searches for land records, up 53.7% on February and 52.6% on a year earlier.