The 10 regions where house sales are picking up quickest

Two housing surveys this month showed conflicting signs of the market’s health – Halifax said that house prices fell by 0.5 per cent in June, while Nationwide said that prices rose by 0.9 per cent in the same month.

While experts remain divided over whether the market has bottomed out yet, there is little doubt that housing sales are picking up, even if it is from a low base. Completed sales in May were at their highest since October 2008, according to recent figures from HM Revenue & Customs.

Stephen Watson, of Agency Express, the UK’s largest "For sale" board company, said: “Confidence is definitely returning and we have seen a step-change in the number of properties being sold right across the UK.

“But we are not out of the woods yet. The number of properties sold in June is still significantly behind the monthly average we saw in 2007 and it is likely to take a another couple of years for a full recovery to take place.”

Here are the ten places in the UK with the most “Sold” boards outside properties in June – showing the percentage increase from May.

The UK average is up 19.2 per cent.

1. West Midlands – up 58 per cent

2. East Midlands – up 35 per cent

3. Yorkshire – up 28 per cent

4. East Anglia – up 25 per cent

5. North West – up 19 per cent

6. Central – up 18 per cent

7. Scotland – up 9 per cent

8. South East – up 8.9 per cent

9. South West – up 8.9 per cent

10. North East – up 8.3 per cent

London and Wales are outside of the top ten with 7.6 per cent and 0 per cent respectively.

By Lauren Thompson

More from Money Central

The 10 dumbest dot.com ideas

The top ten buy-to-let hotspots

Ten top investment tips from Dr Mark Mobius

The top 10 holiday home locations in the UK

The 10 worst property investments ever

The 5 most expensive hotel rooms in the world

The 10 most extravagant emperors

Gordon Brown's 10 worst financial gaffes

The ten weirdest things lost in the post 

Reader guides

The Government's mortgage support schemes explained

The beginner's guide to becoming a landlord

How to find a buy-to-let mortgage

The beginner's guide to mortgages

How to sell your home in a downturn

 

Comments

[Mark James]

This is pathetic. How about a top 10 "most ridiculous ways of talking up the housing market"??

Serious economic commentators, to a man and woman, are in agreement that the market is in the dumps. We might be over the worst, but that's like saying New Orleans was over the worst once Katrina had blown itself out. Parts of that city are still wrecked 4 years on. Parts of our economy will remain wrecked for just as long. Telling us about double digit increases in numbers of sale boards does nothing for anyone.

[david b]

Look slike another attempt by desperate vested interests to ramp the market. of course from a low level these increases look high but volumes are still historically low.

[Matt]

If I recall correctly, the West Midlands is the region that has experienced the biggest falls in property prices. Other regions will also begin to see their sales pick up when prices have fallen sufficiently.

[Steve Holmes]

The West Midlands is up 58% from what?

[Father Ignatius Brown]

This is meaningless drivel without base figures and YoY comparitives. (Matt's point is also spot on).

[Gerry Lynch]

This is meaningless rubbish data. House completions increase in early summer anyway no matter how bad the market.

The article states these figures are the percentage increase May to June of sold boards displayed. Are they actual sales recorded by the Land Registry or some other informal data? Or does the article actually mean 'for sale' boards?

[John Barnes]

This is really useful. I'll just jack up my house, put it on a trailer and move it to West Midlands. (Oh, I forgot. It's not for sale.)

[Richard Hardyfruit]

This post- complete with propaganda lifted from a press release - refers to SOLD boards (but doesn't reveal any absolute numbers so we have no way of knowing how significant this is).

The "FOR SALE" board data is as follows:

The three regions that have seen the greatest monthly increases in the number of ‘For Sale’ boards being erected in June are:

1 East Midlands +37.4%
2 Yorkshire +26.0%
3 London +25.4%

(source: http://www.pressrelease001.com/business9492/june-index-reveals-highest-number-houses-sold-uk-april-2008)

37% increase in properties for sale?!?!! JESUS CHRIST!! THIS IS THE STORY!!!

Basic economics lesson 1: What happens when you increase the SUPPLY of homes by 25 to 37%????

PANIC STATIONS: RED ALERT! RED ALERT - SUPPLY OVERLOAD!