House prices: the 10 most recession-proof counties

There has much doom and gloom about the property market recently with the Halifax and Nationwide reporting falling prices. But these figures mask widespread regional variations. Here Times Money reveals the 10 places where the property market is still going from strength to strength. (And the five places where prices have fallen most… )

1: Oxfordshire up 12.3 per cent

Oxfordshire is officially the most recession-proof county in England, having registered the biggest annual increase in asking prices over the last year. Indeed prices in Oxfordshire rose by 2.9 per cent last month alone, taking the average price to £354,868. Ronnie Van Der Ploeg, of Savills in Oxford, says: “Oxford’s proximity to London, Birmingham and Heathrow make it attractive for various commuters, and there is not enough good quality houses in the city to meet demand.

“Meanwhile villages to the east, such as Beckley and Noke, and to the west such as Woodstock and Charlbury, keep attracting families because of excellent schools and communities.”

2: Hertfordshire up 11.7 per cent

This home county saw house prices rise by 2.1 per cent last month, taking the average asking price to £344,647. Nicholas Leeming, of Propertyfinder.co.uk, says: “There are many quaint and pretty villages such as The Hadhams which remain in high demand. Hertfordshire’s accessibility with the M14, A10 and A1 and the train line into Liverpool Street makes it a prosperous commuter patch.”

3: Isle of Wight up 9.7 per cent

This popular holiday island may only have 132,731 residents, but the market remains very strong with asking prices up by an impressive 4.9 per cent last month. Nonetheless, the average asking price is still lower than our other entrants, at £259,447.

Michael Reilly, of Savills, says : “People looking to retire or purchase a holiday home are increasingly looking to the Isle of Wight, where inland prices are around half the cost of those in places in the West Country like Cornwall. There are some very beautiful Victorian villas at very reasonable prices.”

4: Berkshire up 9.5 per cent

Asking prices rose by 3.7 per cent last month, taking the average price of a home in Berkshire to £362,481. Mr. Leeming says: “Again, it is Berkshire’s proximity to London and its accessibility for commuters that will keep prices up. Towns such as Reading, Slough, Maidenhead and Newbury all provide a good base for commuting.”

5: Buckinghamshire up 8.4 per cent

Asking prices rose by 2.2 per cent last month in Buckinghamshire, taking the average price to £350,363.  A County Homesearch agent based in Buckinghamshire says: “Demand for good quality family homes is still strong in places like Amersham, Gerrards Cross and Beconsfield, which are easily commutable from London. The strength of state and grammar schools are also very appealing for families.”

6: Kent up 6.7 per cent

Asking prices in Kent defied the downturn by increasing 4.3 per cent last month, taking the average cost of a house to £264,262. James Heasman, of County Homesearch, says: “We are continuing to see huge demand for five bedroom family homes in areas such as Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells. Whereas last year you may have 15 buyers fighting over such properties, now we have maybe six, but that is still enough to keep up prices.

“The high speed train service that opens at the end of this year will make places in Ashford, Folkestone and Canterbury more appealing to London commuters as well.”

7: Hampshire up 6.5 per cent

Here house prices rose by 4.7 per cent last month, taking the average asking price to £271,737. Mr. Leeming says: “There is a lot of demand for towns such as Basingstoke and Winchester, which are well connected to London, as well as the small, pretty towns and villages such as Alton and Upton Grey. Londoners looking for their weekend retreat keep demand for thatched cottages very high in these places.”

8: West Sussex up 5.5 per cent

House prices rose by 2 per cent in West Sussex last month, taking the average asking price to £311,050. Sue Carne, of County Homesearch, says: “I have a lot of clients who are retiring and looking to downsize in West Sussex. Demand is far outweighing supply in Henfield, for example, which is a pretty village but with plenty of nearby amenities. Other popular places include Midhurst and Goodwood.”

9: Surrey up 4.5 per cent

Asking prices in Surrey rose by 3.3 per cent last month, taking the average price to £459,923. Chris Constantinou, of Foxtons, says: “Surrey benefits from being a commutable distance to London, so there are still requirements from buyers using their bonuses to purchase a desirable family home that they will live in for the next ten to fifteen years. These buyers are looking for a specific family home so will pay over the odds when they find it.”

10: Wiltshire up 4.3 per cent

This south-west county saw asking prices rise by 1.9 per cent last month, making the average cost £247,088. Richard Waters, of County Homesearch, said: “As well as a strong local market, we see a lot of people looking to relocate from the City or buying a second home, which is keeping demand high.

“The quality houses in countryside settings – manor houses, rectories etc – remain very few and far between and buyers are still fighting for them.”

And London’s top ten …

While Greater London had an overall annual increase of 5 per cent, this figure belies a huge amount of regional variation amongst the different London boroughs. Here are the top ten with the largest annual increase in asking prices.

1. City of Westminster – up 26.4 per cent

2. Camden – up 15 per cent

3. Islington – up 12.6 per cent

4. Hackney – up 11.9 per cent

5. Brent – up 11.5 per cent

6. Wandsworth – up 8.8 per cent

7. Hammersmith and Fulham – up 8.6 per cent

8. Kingston-upon-Thames – up 8.3 per cent

9. Haringey – up 7.3 per cent

10. Kensington and Chelsea – up 6.7 per cent

But here are the nation's worst performers...

1. Merseyside – down 2.4 per cent

2. West Midlands – down 2 per cent

3. Cambridgeshire – down 2 per cent

4. South Yorkshire – down 1.9 per cent

5. County Durham – down 1.3 per cent.

All figures are based on the asking prices of homes on Rightmove.co.uk, which displays details of around 90 per cent of all property sales across England and Wales.

By Lauren Thompson

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Ten tips to survive a property downturn

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The 10 most infamous heists ever

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The 50 wierdest terms of financial jargon - and what they actually mean

The thrifty fifty - 50 easy ways to save cash

Comments

[Chris]

Talk about confusing the public?
First The Times continues the rhetoric about housing price crashes then you start quoting figures from the latest Rightmove pricing survey which looks at "ASKING PRICES". Funnily enough this has shown significant GAINS in many parts of England. Come on journalists explain this rather than continuing your hysterical bet on a "HOUSING CRASH". It seems no one really knows what’s going on just now but the media commentary is certainly less than helpful if you are trying to buy or sell.

[Truthseeker]

May I know if Scotland has been performing badly, or if these figures apply only to England and Wales? If the former, then other reports would suggest that this research is flawed. If the latter, it would have been helpful to have made the situation clear! The UK does include Scotland (for the moment!!)

[W. Pettigrew]

Well, pretty misleading article. If you are going to use the term UK, then include Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland. We may have differing degrees of devolved government, but we are still a part of the UK last I heard.
Maybe you don't want your readers to know the situation is a bit better in Scotland?

[Englishman]

Doesn't take much to upset the Scots, does it?

[Gwen]

Asking prices mean nothing - other than measuring the levels of greed still being displayed by some sellers and agents. Drivel to suggest as asking prices are up then the prices in those areas are up - you'd expect to find that level of analysis and conflation of argument in a tabloid. The fundamentals haven't changed - and regardless of the credit crunch the multiple of income required for an average price property is due for a - very sharp - correction. What a surprise it is Rightmove - hello, this is an agents' website - talking up the market.

[tony]

The Rightmove survey distorts the picture because it does not take into account MIX of houses. How else do you explain (p.7 Rightmove year on year figures) detached +0.8%, semi -0.8%, terraced +1.3%, flats +1.1% --- total 2.2% !!!

[A. Choholic]

The sooner the Scots are given independence the better. (Let's see what happens to house prices north of the border then!)

[Paul]

Funny how these suppposedly 'recession-proof' counties are the ones that have the highest house price to salary ratios, leaving them more exposed to the 'credit crunch' as borrowers will have difficulty gaining such high-income multiple mortgages again.

[A]

10 MOST RECESION PROOF COUNTIES

[Graham]

So this is just England then... di not know that The Times was a regional paper... or just racist

[AussieDigger]

Forget the surveys go to www.propertysnake.co.uk. It will give you the details of each property on the market in your area together with how long it has been on the market, and the difference in its original asking price. The results are amazing.

[Rob, London]

I have recently been looking to buy in Surrey, Berkshire and Hamphsire and indeed have found asking prices are up, with estate agents claiming 'falling prices don't apply here'.
But what a surprise, although vendors seem to believe this and therefore are reluctant to be realistic on price their properties are still stuck unsold 6 months later.. and most buyers left sitting waiting for realism to sink in. As i track the market i see the occasional fast sale, most of the rest of the properties I viewed have sat on the shelf since first put on it.

[Ripsnorter (a very happy ex-pat)]

Liars.

[Piggy Kruger]

A delightful feature, a light amid the dark clouds of media gloom. Can anyone explain what will happen when the sudden decrease in new house building meets up with the increasing demand for homes?. An explosion of pent-up desire to acquire a home of one"s own?. Prices will rush upwards again.

[James]

I'm ignoring the hysterical rubbish in the media about price crashes/sales drops etc . The media would love nothing more than to talk us into a recession , after all , bad news sells doesn't it (sky news being the worst culprits , they thrive on murders and natural disasters) ?

[Londoner]

"Doesn't take much to upset the Scots, does it?"

Like being completely ignored, you mean? At best, it was an inaccurate use of the term "UK", and at worst it exemplified English arrogance.

Either way, it was wrong.

[Hugh]

and this is written under the headline 'money central - advice you can bank on'.

if i was the times i'd considering what potential legal liability they might be exposing themselves to by publishing misleading articles such as this, regurgitating estate agent's spin as fact.

[Chris]

Can I suggest the paranoid Scots out there go to the Rightmove web site where it clearly explains why their survey does not cover property North of the border. Its because you have a different system of selling property which I am sure you will proudly tell us is far superior to the system south of the border. The times made a tiny mistake in a foot note.

[Huw Rhys]

Did Rightmove pay for this advert?

[NigelC]

The Governemnt has just announced in the East of England Plan proposals for 10,000 new houses north of Harlow in East Herts- just south of the Hadhams you mention

[Neal S]

"Posted by Piggy Kruger: Can anyone explain what will happen when the sudden decrease in new house building meets up with the increasing demand for homes?."

Certainly Piggy, a decrease in housebuilding will coincide with the sharp slow down in the wider construction industry, leading to job losses in this sector, combined with job losses in the "city" as financial companies try to balance their books will add to a drastic slowdown in the retail market leading to yet more job losses in the medium term. In other words, a new build slow down will not prevent price drops in the short/medium term but will lead to another possible bubble in 15 years or so. Boom/Bust.

"Posted by Piggy Kruger: An explosion of pent-up desire to acquire a home of one"s own?. Prices will rush upwards again."

Not for quite a while Piggy. People talking about buying houses when the price comes down 20-30% will probably find they are unable to afford the large deposit they will now require. The market will stagnate, just as they are in the US.

[Gemma]

The facts are wrong from what I have observed for the number 1 location cited above (Oxfordshire). I have been closely monitoring asking prices in two of the villages mentioned for the past 6 months or so. Over the last few months, sellers have reduced prices by around 5-10%, so in the region of £25,000 in the cases of some of the homes. Still the properties are not shifting. I predict further drops to entice buyers in. I am a potential buyer who does not feel tempted yet to put in offers.

[Davie P]

Utterly preposterous garbage and lies:
1) Last spring I saw asking prices in Savill's window in Windsor cut by about 6% across the board, ie. well before the credit crunch
2) My colleague has just been rung by an EA saying that he can have the "£585k" house is interested for £510k

[Sophie]

Cambridge is not mentioned here, but just for those who think the market is falling across the board, my brother's house just sold for the fairly hefty asking price within a week. Decent-sized, detached family houses in a good state of repair are like hen's teeth round here and people are still prepared to pay through the nose for them. Go figure.

[Neal]

Not a very well researched article. I am an agent in one of these counties and I would love to know where the prices are rising.You people in the media really aren't helping.Stop trying to make news and try reporting it.

[Steve Buckel]

Asking prices are set by those who are mostly in denial. The only things measured here are the stupidity of the journalist and the desperation of those in the areas mentioned. The other comments display the level-headedness of so many of the readership.

[A1N]

I cannot believed what I have just read. I couldn't agree more with Gemma and Davie P. I have been looking in Surrey over the last 6 months and many "asking prices" of unsold houses have been reduced by around 10%. The pumped up, unrealistic asking price suggested by estate agents has no bearing on what is actually happening to prices in the current market. Actual selling prices are. I thought The Times would have the journalistic professionalism and sense to report facts.

[Davie P]

This is just more property porn from desperate journos who know their careers are about to hit the buffers. Look at the Life & Style section that's full of article saying how BTLers are "cleaning up".
.... before they go bust.
We are renting in London at 1/3 the "current market value" of buying the house. Do the math.
I also rent out property - BTL is the sickest joke I've heard in years - since the dot.com bubble

[Gary Campbell]

Utter tosh! Prices are dropping by at least 10% already in East Herts (40 mins to Liverpool Street) - and the crash has only just got started.

Get yourself a copy of the Mozilla browser, & the PropertyBee plug in. It will show you how the price changes in rightmove.

[AW]

Have been looking to buy in Tunbridge Wells area for last year. Very slow market. Very little going under offer. A lot of the stock was overpriced last summer/autumn and just isn't moving. Asking prices are are now falling, in many cases quite dramatically.

Stikes me that a lot of these articles talking up the property market are based solely on wishful thinking!

[biscuitpusher]

I am no economist, but I read the financial pages and this all sounds like Estate Agent spin, masquerading as facts, which they are not. We should be careful of this kind of story and spend some time looking behind the "facts" and what causes the effects on the market that they report. There was more of this in the tabloids' screeching headlines today (Tuesday 20 May 2008), quoting a property investment company and the NAEA talking the market up, even though the figures they quoted were year on year and showed a downward trend!

Asking prices are meaningless - I can ask £1m for my biro but I won't get it,(it's not anything special, only a bic) even though there is demand for them. It will sell when the asking price drops to a level at which someone can afford to buy it and that is the point. House prices are too high, by 30%, the IMF thinks. So do some of the banks, according to their internal reports.

Property prices are determined not just by demand and supply (there are heaps of empty properties and heaps of buyers around at the moment) but by the supply of available credit. First Time Buyers and Buy to Let investors who both drive the market have had their lines of credit removed or driven to uneconomical levels by the so-called Credit Crunch. Neither group will be back in the market until those lines of credit return at affordable prices, which means lower house prices too.

Contrary to what government spokespeople spin at us, the economy is NOT in a sound state, having been built on the back of borrowing against rising house prices since 1997. Now prices are falling and credit is disappearing while prices of food and fuel are rising, there will be less spending on everything, which will affect not just what's left of our manufacturing, but also retail and services from removals men to insurance. This will mean loss of jobs and lots of forced house sales, pushing desperate sellers to drop their prices.

Can't we spend our way out like the US did in the 1930s? No! Gordon Brown still had a trade surplus until 2003, then had one of the biggest tax takes in history since then up to 2007 and yet the treasury is empty. Where has all the money gone?? Wasted on non-job bureaucrats and other profligate rubbish. What exactly is a "Head of Participation and Inclusion" by the way? How did we manage without them in the days of Empire?

Trying to "get in touch with the people", he posted an "Ask the PM" film on YouTube yesterday. Looking as desperately insincere as the worst kind of estate agent or car salesman,complete with fleeting rictus smiles, he was soliciting comments. Well, I added a comment asking where the money has gone and how he expects to get us out of this mess. It stayed up for about an hour this evening, before the comments and facility to leave them was removed. I must have struck a raw nerve.

Sorry folks, I didn't intend to remove our right to democracy, I just wanted to air my views. We are in for a hellish ride over the next few years, but at least if the coffers are empty, perhaps even he will drop the boneheaded stupidity of the useless and prying ID card scheme. Roll on the election. Crewe and Nantwich will help determine how soon that general election may be and how long Gordon will remain in power, whether he's in control or not. Rarely in the past has a chancellor been in power long enough to reap that which he has sown. It's him to blame, ultimately.

No doubt Gordon will tell us all that the economy is right on track. If it is, we're all tied to the rails.

[Miles Betchley]

Is The Editor on holiday this week Love?

[timmy]

thats good news my house has just increased by 4.3%

in kent ie 10k!.wow

[Bill Peter]

"Doesn't take much to upset the Scots"

Yes, and don't you forget it.

[Davie P]

In the early 90s up market London areas like Notting Hill fell relatively more than regular residential areas. These areas seem to suffer wilder swings as they are more affected by bonus money etc. which is due to fall drastically apparently. Whereas other areas are driven by "normal" peoples' earnings.
I think there are no "recession proof" areas. But there are
"recession proof" houses, ie. those that would appeal to the foreign billionaires who seem to find London a tax haven. Ie. the Mittals and Russians competing over trophy houses - where the more they pay the better they feel.
I doubt their largesse has any effect on the world inhabited by the man on the street. In fact if you took the billionaires' purchases out of the equation, what would London indices look like I wonder? Remember that £120m flat in St. James? That's nearly 1000 FTB pads

[Ian]

I looked at a house to rent this week in Herts which is also up for sale on Rightmove for £299k. Without prompting the agent told me the seller would take £270k. £30k discount without trying!!! Asking prices mean nothing at the moment!!

[Ivan]

What a load of rubbish. I live in Hertfordshire's most desirable town (St Albans)and currently deals are being agreed 10% below asking price.

[Balwant Munglani]

I think estate agents are at it again. A house which was sold for £351000 last year in April has come back to the market with asking price for £45400 as recommended by the agent. No offers yet but the estate agent says that I could make an offer around £10 to £20k less than the asking price. Still nearly 23% above the last year's price.

I do not believe the recession has set in yet but it cannot be far if the estate agents carry on deluding the people with unrealistic expectation. I expect to see that house sell for no more than the the price which was sold last year with some 5 to 10% discount. I think I am right.

[Balwant Munglani]

Correction to my posting at 17:04.

..asking price for £45400 as recommended by the agent...

Asking price should be £454000.

Sorry.

[Linder]

Both sellers & Agents want high price. the reality is the accepted offer prices have been 5-9% in the SE area for detached houses and >10% for others. Asking prices are misleading. Remember Affordibility is key - unemployment -economy....

[Frank cugi]

Not sure where these statistics come from, but they are completely out of kilter with what I see in my local market – Reading (Berkshire). Even in the most desirable areas, properties do not seem to sell unless the asking price has been cut, at least once – 5%-10% reductions are pretty common these days. New properties come on the market at much more realistic prices (on average lower than 3 months ago), but still need to be reduced to attract serious interest. Seems to me that there are no recession-proof areas in the UK – it would be fair & sensible not to raise false hopes.

[David]

Reads like more property ramping from the Times (perhaps it should be retitled Property Times). I live in Surrey and some houses have been on the market for over a year because the price is too high. Asking prices are estate agent and vendor fantasies.

[Clare]

Asking prices mean nothing - other than measuring the levels of greed still being displayed by some sellers and agents. Drivel to suggest as asking prices are up then the prices in those areas are up - you'd expect to find that level of analysis and conflation of argument in a tabloid. The fundamentals haven't changed - and regardless of the credit crunch the multiple of income required for an average price property is due for a - very sharp - correction. What a surprise it is Rightmove - hello, this is an agents' website - talking up the market.

[Justin]

It seems what's needed is the government encouraging private enterprise to build MORE houses. This will help with falling employment and the lack of affordable housing for first time buyers. Yes it will be adding to falling prices initially but should stabilize the situation more quickly by building up the economy with more people living independently and working. Turning run-down city areas into pleasant living/working areas would be a good start.

[Michael]

Asking prices mean nothing. Completion prices also mean nothing. Why? Because people pay over the odds. No volume of sales, unwilling lenders, interest rate rises coming to deal with cost inflation. Why would anyone buy property at this time, other than to hold and pay down the loan for a lifetime?

[Robert Galley]

I am concerned that detail is being conflated by all kinds of analysts. We used to talk about "crowding out" of borrowing when the government borrowed too much, making private borrowing too costly in terms of interest rates. The net result of Northern Rock seeking government funding and others seeking to securitise their housing mortgage loans with government bonds, will I predict be a significant hike in interest rates. FTB & BTL be afraid... very afraid.

[James Beavis]

utter nonsense....in portobello area of london asking prices are 10% below last year with deals being agreed 10% below there...in barckenbury village in hammersmith the only houses shifting are those offered by vendors willing to sell at at least 20% below last summer's crazy prices...vendors who do not price realistically just simply do not sell...

[peter kiddle]

To be frank I have never read so much unadulterated rubbish as in this article.

Prices quoted are based on delusional asking prices - not achieved prices which will likely be orders of magnitude lower. As for the Isle of Wight! Ludicrous comments - in the last property crash prices on the Island fell like a lift without cables. I should know, I live there.

Desperate, desperate ramping by terrified vested interests.

[little red scottymen]

what a surprise - Scots moaning over an article that didn't even mention them.

the reason they didn't mention house prices in Scotland is simple - no one cares - even Scots. he he.

*sits back smugly and waits for the carnage to erupt*

[Iain]

So what's so wrong with falling property prices anyway? More opportunity for first time buyers and it becomes easier to move up the market. The only people who lose out are the ones who are buying a number of houses as an enormous nest egg. Greedy and unnecessary. Having two houses is extravagant..having three or four is disgusting and preventing honest working people living in a home of their own.

[Solution: AN ANSWER TO ALL YOUR WOES........]

SENSIBLE PEOPLE:
Solution.
1: If your not desperate to sell, take your property of the market creating a shortage in the estate agents portfolio and thus an excuse to increase the value.
2: Credit is still cheap and property will cost you no more now than it did three years ago. To upgrade your house and regardless of property fluctuations, the margins are almost the same.
MISS GUIDED INDIVIDUALS:
Solution.
If you've borrowed against your property for that "Buy toilet" Porsche or the wifes/girlfriends X5 then prepared to be burnt. Try Labrokes or CityIndex spread betting for an answer remembering to keep a couple of coppers for a copy of the London Gazette. Its better than FaceBuk and may provide links to helpful establishments.

[R M Thirde]

Your article concerned property prices in the U.K. Could you please include Scotia which is part of the U.K?
From:
A Unionist For Ever!

[superslinky]

I'd like to reinforce the comments about the Berkshire/Reading market - not just achieved prices, but also asking prices are now dropping. The BTL flat I am renting was on the market for six months from November last year to April at a grossly inflated price. Receiving no offers but refusing to drop the asking price the landlord took the house off the market. But this is the kind of "statistic" Rightmove and other vested interests are touting, and it helps to explain the hysteria and stupidity that created the bubble in the first place.

[Pamela]

These figures are based on ASKING PRICES (see note at bottom of article) so the analysis doesn't mean a thing!

[Catherine Longbottom]

I notice that this list does not include Scotland nor Northern Ireland. Can the Times kindly remember that they do have readers north of the border and over in Ireland.

[Marty]

Why do so many people get so upset about all this - prices go up and prices come down - good properties sell well - poor properties don't - some times we get lucky, some times we don't - it's all life, enjoy it.

[******]

well they would mostly be down south.

remember the last recession! the south will again be one of the hardest hit places when the next one bites due to only providing mostly service industry jobs!

Lets see the house prices stand then. In any case, don't believe these figures - I know estate agents in these areas and actual selling prices are well down unless you have something special. Just people trying to buoy up a sinking market!

[Michael]

Its the nine Ds my friends:
1. Death
2. Divorce
3. Debt
4. buy-to-get in Debt (I mean let)
5. second home Dumpers
6. retiring Downsizers
7. grand Designers
8. guest worker (short-term immigrant) Disappearance
9. enDowment policy shortfallers

These should be enough to lubricate the market appropriately.

[Biggie]

Hi

I am amazed to live in Surrey. This place is the best place in the world to live. No way will the price go down. This is the smartest poshest place and most crime free in the country. As for Scotland and Glasgow what a dump i wouldn't pay more than £10,000 for a home there its a dump.

[Liz]

Lies, damned lies and property prices...
Where on earth do they get these figures? I live in Kingston upon Thames, and prices here have most certainly not gone up 8.3%. Estate agents are bombarding me daily with reductions, some quite substantial.

[Crispin]

I've just got home to find a letter from my mortgage lender Virgin One who have put UP their lending rates despite the BoE keeping them on hold - this on top of the fact that they failed to pass on the last cut. The net effect is that I am paying 0.5 per cent over the odds. I have phoned to complain and am now seeking a new lender. I would urge all other Virgin One account holders to do the same thing.

[Miami Beach Momma]

Welcome all to our world in South Florida!!!!! We stared this mess three years ago as only consumptive Yanks can do. Will it get worse in the UK? You betcha baby!!! How bad? Well in sunny South Beach we are now up to 40% off the value's of '05 our peak. Mid-beach the Mayfair of Miami has seen a 25% price reduction in single family homes, all valued, even a tiny cottage in excess of 1 Mil a few years ago.

We have loads of inventory, loads of foreclosures, and loads of buyers. No one is buying out of fear of losing even more. It is exactly like the crash in 1990 in London. People are just walking away from their property and letting the banks take over.

My husband and I purchased our first house in 1990 in SE London. Our friends thought we were crazy, we couldn't sell our flat as we were in negative equity and had to carry both. Best thing that ever happened to us. We still have that flat, and purchased last year our family a home in Deal Kent as a safety net to run to from the US, I can't wait to get back to my adopted homeland!!!!!!

But the problem was all started here, to filter over to you by greedy banks (go figure) and wall street brokers. Everyone loved, loved, loved the margin on all those dodgy loans and couldn't buy enough for their portfolio's. And we all knew the prices rising 35% a year on average for five straight years was never going to end. HSBC was one of the biggest provider of these dodgy loans as were other European banks. People are now walking and the banks and their Investors are left holding the empty bag. No else is lining up to buy the loans hence the bag remains empty. Leaving no money to lend as the banks never physically had that money they lent. So essentially your problem is tight credit. Like any horrible event when everyone but the big guy has lost the we will look over the Industry Standards and tighten them up.

And be happy that your press is trying to spin positive ours did not and definitely contributed in a major way to the quick slid into the abyss.

Anyone want to buy a lovely detached house on Miami Beach.............cheap?

[Np]

Nowhere will be recession proof this time. It'll be the worst housing crash ever. And don't hang around waiting for these dizzy high prices to return. It took 12 years last time. It'll be a lot longer this time. The bubble has burst like the 90's AND we have the credit crunch.
We have a sick economy and produce little wealth these days.
Apart from all that, the sun was shining today.

[Tim]

Very unimpressed with this article - asking prices are an exremely poor measure of the market. I'm a Brit, based in Australia at the moment, and won't be using The Times as a reliable source of information to keep track of the UK market.

[brummydoug]

Vendors in Oxford are now starting to offer price reductions; so much for recession-proof Oxfordshire.

[Michael Australia]

When are agents and sellers going to realize the buying market controls the prices Not them.

[Pinto]

Well, what a surprise!!! Doesn't rightmove have a special relationship with Times newspaper? Hmm, let me thing, Oh yes, the media group has a lot of newspapers and some have estate agents advertising on them...

[Alan Daniels]

Intersting to see what is going on at the other side of the pond.

[Michael]

Ironically HBOS, one of the founders of Rightmove, did not sell off its stake in them until after the credit crunch by which time R/Move's share price had crashed. Not much foresight!

[Linda]

Sweeping statements from posters don't do anything to help relations! Scot posters - most of the English aren't arrogant it's all in your head. I'm English and I love Scotland and the Scots - what's your problem? There might have been a problem hundreds of years back but that's all finished -get over it.
Biggie what an ignorant generalised criticism of Scotland. There are some of the most beautiful places in the UK up there. Edinburgh is fabulous and even though Glasgow has it's problems (but so does any city - look at London) it has some fabulous character buildings and great shopping. Stop making generalised narrow minded put down remarks - it's no wonder the Scots don't like us with people like you around!!

[Mike Dawson]

Do you happen or expect to sell The Times and or Sunday Times in Scotland?
What a shame the your journalist have such a parochial viewpoint. I'm Scottish & British and live in Edinburgh and I think house prices here are holding up better than those in England.
Come on England be a little more generous with your coverage.

[spam]

I reckon I'm in a pretty relevant situation to make a valid comment here: I just sold a 1 bed flat at asking price in Feb of this year in borough of Camden and bought a house in Hertfordshire (less than asking price). The road I bought in is highly sought after due to proximity to local schools, yet 2 or 3 properties I looked at in January to buy are still on the market. Unheard of this time last year!

[DAvid ABbott]

When will we, the British ever learn?? you can't open a newspaper or watch the news these days without being promised a recession - we've talked ourselves into it, we now deserve it so we're going to have one - well done 10 out of 10 for inane stupidity. So come on you lot, lets start tslking possitive about what we do have. Why have we not heard about the 12.4% rise in property prices in Oxfordshire except in "Times Money" on line.

The Americans purposely sold property to buyers they knew would be able never be able to keep up repayments in the full knowledge they would foreclose with a view to re-marketing the same properties at a higher price to new customers. Brilliant for a handfull of billionaires, but why are we having to suffer the consequences of a few exceptionally greedy yanks?

[Not Again]

House prices: the 10 most recession-proof counties in the UK?

Sadly you have yet again confused the UK with England and Wales....your article even states England and Wales. Dismally uneducated headline writers...again.

I would say I expect more from from this publication, but that's rapidly becoming untrue.