Month on month properties nationally achieving ‘sold’ status in September were down -5.5% on August 2011 and the number of new ‘for sale’ listings recorded, also down by -7.6% on the previous month.
There is an established trend for September market activity to show a fall compared to August and, whilst 2011 has followed this pattern, it has been the shallowest drop seen in the last three years.
Regionally, there were some positive signs for the coming Autumn period with five out of the twelve regions bucking the seasonal trend and showing positive figures for the number of properties ‘sold’ in September against the previous month.
Scotland topped the hot-spots up +10.0% on August, followed by East Midlands up +6.2% and Central up +1.4%. The overall number of properties ‘sold’ in September 2011 was down -0.5% against September 2010 but up +4.2% on September 2009 and +19.4% on September 2008.
When it came to the regional ‘not-so-hot-spots’ for September, London was top of the table with a drop in the number of properties ‘Sold’ down -22.1%, North East down -18.3% and South West down -13.8%.
It was a similar picture with the number of new ‘for sale’ listings recorded in September against August with two regions generating positive month on month figures. The West Midlands topped the table for new ‘for sale’ listings up +3.1% and Scotland up +2.4%. At the other end of the regional ‘not-so-hot-spots’ table for new ‘For Sale’ listings were Wales down -22.3%, the North West was down -14.9% and the South West down -12.0%. Disappointingly, the number of ‘for sale’ listings in September 2011 were down -14.2% on the same month in 2010 but up +20.0% on September 2010.
A good number of individual cities experienced increases in month on month house sales compared to August. Brighton topped the ‘hot-spots’ with an increase of +31.0%, followed by Colchester up +24.2%, Nottingham up +21.6%, Glasgow up +12.0% and Manchester up +10.3%. At the opposite end, the cities recording the greatest decline in month on month properties ‘sold’ in September were Cardiff down -37.8%, Bristol down -22.4% and London City down -22.1%.
New ‘for sale’ activity in cities for September compared to August saw Glasgow topping the charts with an increase of +27.5%, Southampton up +24.7% and Oxford up +15.4%. Colchester saw the greatest monthly decline in new ‘for sale’ listings compared to August, down -36.2%, with York down -28.8% and Cardiff down -23.8%.
Commenting on the latest Index results, Stephen Watson, managing director, Agency Express, said: “At first glance these figures might appear a little disappointing, but take a closer look and they reveal some encouraging, positive signs, with many regions and individual cities bucking the seasonal established since our Index began in 2007.
“There appears to be consensus across most of the property-related Indexes that the UK housing market is still facing challenges amid economic uncertainty, both at home and abroad, but it is important to recognise the progress that has been made since the market lows experienced in 2008 and that it’s not all doom and gloom.”
