The 10 towns beating the housing slump - and the 10 worst affected

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House sales slumped to a 30 year low in 2008. In the three months to November 30, estate agents reported sales of less than one house a week in England and Wales, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

For the majority of homeowners trying to sell, it has been a rough year. However, a lucky few, living in some of the more prosperous regions of the UK, have escaped relatively unscathed.

Here are ten English and Welsh towns where the housing market remains buoyant and properties are still being snapped up. This is followed by the ten towns that have borne the worst of the downturn.

Source: Home.co.uk. Figures exclude Northern Ireland and Scotland

By Laura Whateley

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Comments

[bob]

winchester has another e!

[topsy]

Does this include information from the Northern Irish housing market? The falls there have been even more severe than in the mainland UK, and with dire clouds on the horizon it's looking bad...

[red]

They will be down 40% within the year

[Jonathan]

Oops. I clicked on this link to see what characterised these trend-bucking favoured areas, but only managed to notice my dad's and uncle's houses being both in the top six worst affected towns in the counry. Something I shall keep quiet methinks...

[Michael]

The statistics are meaningless.

[Roger Newman]

Dear Laura,
This article appears to be seriously misleading and inaccurate.
Using a browser plug in called Property Bee I have checked the listing history of the 104 properties for sale in Crewkerne on the Rightmove.co.uk site.
My impression is that the majority of the properties have been on the site for over 160 days. (many have been listed since early summer. Furthermore, in many cases the properties have been discounted from their initial listing price and have still not sold.
Yours Sincerely,
Roger

[diana]

No North/South divide here then?

[King Arthur]

where are the welsh and scottish town? another example of english bias. i wish the anglo saxons would go back to saxony or wherever!

[Jon Spoczta]

Michael,

Why are these statistics meaningless? Because it tells you something you do not want to hear? In any crash there is always going to be a list of "best of the worst" as well as the actual worst. Why should this fact be ignored?

Your post was meaningless.

[Np]

Badly analysed statistics. And Home.co.uk figures are nothing significant. How many houses sold in each area, one? WHAT PRICE?
There will always be best and worst, the point is, in this recession, all areas will drop by shed fulls. No area will be immune.
A few years ago, the wealthy were backed by real (possibly old) money. These days the're backed by credit and are the first to flounder.

[P H]

Misleading statistics. The average time on the market in my area looks to be about infinity! Agents are staging fake sales, even leaving the lights on in vacant homes to give the impression of new occupation. The land registry database however tells the real story – sales are down over 80% in many areas.

Whatever new madness the government comes up with won’t alter the fact that the economy is in for a big slide and house prices today are still unrealistic.

[Derek Bevan]

Homes for sale ! "not,sold".

[Martin roantree]

We have had our house for sale for nearly two years and in a desperate attempt to sell it have just reduced it by 50k,we live in Heywood in Manchester,our house was up for 250 and is now 199k if it was in london it would be around the 750k mark as it is absolutely huge,everyone in our town is worried as nothing seems to have sold for absolutely ages

[Martin roantree]

if you want to view it go to www.alexanderjamesestates.co.uk and search for 52 bury old road

[Ted Harvey]

To quote the first poster here; "Badly analysed statistics".

This is confirmed by the rider to the tables: "Figures exclude Northern Ireland and Scotland".

In other words these figures are only about a couple of regions in the UK. Why exclude the others? I'm sorry, but the journalist here merely reflects an all too typical Metro London myopic mindset whereby the rest of the UK matters less and less... no wonder the Union is in trouble when we get this kind of copy from even the likes of the Times.

[basil]

Calm down you lot there will always be a top 10 and bottom 10 whatever the market. im very worried that when the recovery starts you lot will go into a deep depression. Free houses for everyone, no jobs for anyone!

[Steve Williams]

Is this journalism or daytime telly?

The use of the phrases "beating the property slump" and "snapped up" are ridiculous, and the author should retract them.

Having very close experience of Winchester, I can say that it is IN a slump, not beating it, and that property is only selling at 20% off the peak, after many months.

Three questions:
1) Is the author linked to the property industry?

2) Why should the comments be moderated by the author rather than someone more impartial?

3) Why keep buying the times with rubbish like this in it?

[Deputy Dog]

@Steve "the dunce" Williams. If you hadn't already noticed, Times Online is free, you do not pay for it.

[basil]

@ Steve Williams, im sorry that this article is not more depressing for you. Perhaps you would be better suited to The Daily Mail.

[Steve Williams]

LOL! - two great (comedic) quality responses. How ironic that Basil resorts to "go and read the Daily Mail" retoric, when the quality of his/her & Deputy Dog's comments are typical of the discussion quality found there.

@ Basil - once you've READ and THOUGHT about mine and others comments, perhaps you might then post a response as to whether you feel the article is reasoned, factually based journalism (that's what most previous comments are about).

@ Deputy Dog - thanks for inserting the words "the dunce" in my name. More reasoned & mature discusssion. FYI - I do buy the times everyday, so it's not free, but I find that if I write my feedback on my newspaper, no one else can read it! Now, that wasn't really that hard to figure out was it? Do you want your dunce's hat back?

Is it possible to get back to discussing the article now ?

[Adam]

@Steve Williams:

1) It's "rhetoric", not "retoric".

2)This is a blog. Therefore it didn't appear in the paper edition which you "buy everyday" (sic).

3) Shut up.

[Basil]

Steve, This article is just another take on what is going on out there, some areas will do better than others, surely you can understand that! You are quite within your rights to wait to see if prices fall to 0 or perhaps you will miss the bottom, either way, chill, Dunce.

[Mabon Dane]

The mention of Haverhill as being in the top 10 was a big surprise, Haverhill is a town with a lot of problems, considered a blackspot in an otherwise up market Suffolk.

[LAKSHMAN PARDHANANI]

How much will the cheapest house at Claygate cost? Two bedrooms will do?

[Conwyman]

Hardly surprising that Deganwy and Llandudno are down there - they have seen a crazy boom in prices in the last five years. It never was sustainable and the prices being asked are 30% too high at least.

[Gavin Staples]

Its good to see Haverhill and St Ives there.
Haverhill has been doing well this past few years. Its not suprising really to see it in the best list.

[Si Hi]

Heywood, Greater Manchester, unless it's moved I thought it was that hovel next to Rochdale, another hovel.

You property must really be worth no more than £140k at best

[Malcolm Potts]

What a pointless and futile exercise so the slump is affecting the north rather than the south quelle suprise!!!

[nilsey105]

3 of the top 10 worse are on the Wirral very posh expensive place in the Liverpool commuter belt.

[Peter]

More rubbish from The Times editorial Buy To Let portfolio club - Prices ( the ones that have faced reality and lowered the prices in the hope of a sale that is ) still have a further 50% to go, after that it may be 15 years before we are back where we are today - want to buy a liability >>> get a mortgage now!