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Nick Osbourne Halifax 0207 356 1714 |
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The Halifax property sales report tracks home sales movements across England and Wales. The review is based on Land Registry data and covers the 500 largest post-towns and London boroughs.
Towns with the highest % increase in property sales, 2001 - 2011
Online PR News – 24-October-2011 –Bury is the country's leading property sales hotspot, according to new research by Halifax. Sales of homes in the Greater Manchester town of Bury have risen by 44% over the first six months of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010, more than in any other town in England and Wales.
The substantial increase in property sales in Bury since 2010 has been driven by a marked rise in the level of activity at the lower end of the housing market with flats and terraced homes accounting for 77% of the overall rise in sales.
Northern towns see the biggest increases in home sales
The four towns that recorded the biggest rises in residential property sales since 2010 – Bury, Leigh, Rugeley and Houghton Le Spring – are all in the north of England. However, several of these areas have seen high growth from a relatively low base level of sales. Leigh in Greater Manchester (32%) and the Staffordshire town of Rugeley (30%) saw the next biggest increases after Bury. Outside northern England, the seaside destination of Great Yarmouth recorded the biggest increase in home sales (27%).
Despite the recent strong growth in home sales, total transaction levels in the ten top performing towns over the past year are still 42% lower than a decade ago. Sales in Bury – the country's leading property sales hotspot – are 42% lower than 2001.
Nearly all of the worst performing towns are in the south
Nine of the ten towns that recorded the biggest declines in property sales over the past year are in southern England. The Hertfordshire town of Hoddesdon (-39%) saw the largest drop in sales, followed by Buckingham (-34%). Aberdare in Wales (-33%) is the only town outside southern England to appear among the ten worst performing towns.
This is stark contrast to last year’s results when, between 2009 and 2010, eight of the ten towns that recorded the biggest rises in property sales are in southern England.
The North sees the lowest fall in property sales
All regions saw a fall in sales between the first halves of 2010 and 2011. The North recorded the smallest fall (-2.2%), the North West (-4.8%) and the West Midlands (-4.9%) saw the next smallest declines. The number of home sales in London fell by 11.3% over the period, more than in any other region. The South West (-11.1%) and South East (-10.7%) experienced the next largest declines. In total, property sales across England and Wales have fallen by 8.7% over the past year.
Suren Thiru, Halifax housing economist, said:
"A number of towns across England and Wales have experienced a significant rise in home sales over the past year despite the more subdued picture across the country as a whole. Many of the top performing towns are in the north, reflecting a reversal of 2010 when the housing market in southern England outperformed the north. The relatively favourable levels of affordability in many of the top performing northern towns have helped to support housing market activity in these locations, albeit from historically low levels."
ADDITIONAL FINDINGS:
Property sales halve over the past decade
The number of property sales in England and Wales has fallen by 49% over the last ten years from 532,709 in the first half of 2001 to 271,113 over the same period in 2011. Home sales in the south have proved slightly more resilient with sales down by 48% compared with a 51% drop in the north.
1The north consists of the North East, North West, Yorkshire & the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands and Wales. The south consists of Greater London, South East, South West and East of England.
The house price and sales data in this report is sourced from the HM Land Registry.
"This report is prepared from information that we believe is collated with care. However, it is only intended to highlight issues and it is not intended to be comprehensive. We reserve the right to vary our methodology and to edit or discontinue/withdraw this or any other report. Any use of this report for an individual's own or third party commercial purposes is done entirely at the risk of the person making such use and solely the responsibility of the person or persons making such reliance. © Bank of Scotland plc all rights reserved 2011"
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