support for borrowers and possibly a sense that people are now fed up of putting off their decision to sell their house or buy a new one. In some senses, stable house prices are actually increasing consumer confidence and enabling more people to save for a deposit and get on the housing ladder. However there have been significant
regional variations, with significant differences in the north and the south of the country. Greater London is the only region in England and Wales that has experienced a rise in house prices; these have increased by 3.1% over the past three months and by 1.2% even from October to November.
Contrast that with the north which has
suffered most badly: here there has been an annual house price drop of -7.2% and a drop of almost 8% over just one month between October and November. All of a sudden the north and south stand in stark contrast to one another. All the other regions also experienced
drops in house prices but these ranged from just 1.4% in Wales and the South East up to 4.2% in the North West.
eState agency view There were 10% more houses bought and sold in England and Wales in the three months to the end of October than there were in the previous three months against an anticipated fall of -2% for the time of year. The above average increase in sales was experienced across all regions, with the biggest gains of +12% being seen in the southernmost regions of England and Wales.
In fact the number of transactions rose by 4.5% year on year in November alone with all regions showing an increase in sales of between 2.3% in the South West and 7.9% in East Anglia. Patterns of buying and selling seem to
breaking away from seasonal norms however, August and September were very buoyant months compared to the rest of the year, where often August especially sees less activity. October, usually a month of high activity then
experienced sharp fall of 6% in year on year, and now this has bounced back in November.
Again however,
there is a north/south divide, with the southern regions experiencing a higher growth in the number of properties sold than the more northern regions.
Of housing types, detached houses
remained the most popular with the biggest upswing in the number of sales
and purchases; flats remained the lowest although the terraced markets in the north and midlands saw the lowest increase in transaction over the period from May until the end of October. n
mortgage introducer JANUARY 2012 43
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