My department examines trends across all major tax heads, including stamp duty, on an ongoing basis. At end February 2007 stamp duties for the year to date were up 22% year on year. They are currently running at 16% ahead of the same time last year (16 March).
It is very difficult to draw conclusions from tax receipts over a period as short as 3 months and to determine if the figures represent a trend that is set to continue. However, evidence for the property market suggests that Stamp Duty receipts, although still strong, will not continue to grow at the rate of recent years. This moderation has been expected for some time. I have pointed out on several occasions in the past we have taken care not to plan the public finances around an assumption that receipts from stamps and Capital Gains Tax will continue to grow in future years as they have in the recent past.
I assume that the second part of the Deputy's question refers to residential property. In this regard, anecdotal evidence suggests that the volume of house sales has eased. Hard data is not yet available but the standard leading indicators (planning permissions etc) suggest an easing in the market. In terms of price developments, the latest data show that the rate of house price inflation has slowed since the middle of last year. Moreover, these data show that on a month-on-month basis, prices have been more or less flat since October.