Ilford sees highest increase in property sales across the UK in the first half of the year

Just three towns saw no increase in sales in the first six months of the year, according to the Halifax Property Sales Hotspot Review that tracks real estate sales movements based on Land Registry data and covers more than 100 of the largest towns in the country.
 
In second place is Croydon which saw a 73% increase in sales and Maidenhead in third with a 71% rise.
 
But the report shows that there have been considerable variations across the country in the change in property sales over the past year. Blackpool saw sales fall by 1% while Grimsby and Sunderland saw a 0% increase.
 
Overall there were 290,227 home sales in England and Wales in the first six months of 2010, some 27% more than in the first half of 2009. And 16 of the top 20 towns reporting the biggest increase in sales are in London and the South East, most with good commuter links to central London.
 
The four non southern towns in the 20 hotspots are Stockport and Chorley in the North West, Shrewsbury in the West Midlands and Durham in the North.
 
The report also points out that the real estate market has, in general, been slower in the north and nine of the ten towns recording the smallest rises in sales are outside London and the South East.
 
‘Over the past year, some towns have recorded considerable increases in the number of sales compared with 2009. Most of these towns have been in London and the South East and have good commuter links to central London. Overall, just three towns in England and Wales actually saw no increase in sales over the period,’ said Suren Thiru, Halifax Housing Economist.