Housing market sales at their highest since 2007

Transcription

1 EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 HRS ON FRIDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2015 The Lloyds Bank property sales report tracks home sales movements across England and Wales. The review is based on Land Registry data and covers 400 postal towns and London boroughs. Property sales hotspots are defined as those locations that recorded a rise in home sales during the ten months to October compared with the same period in Housing market sales at their highest since 2007 Home sales in the first ten months of were 21% higher than in the same period in Over three quarters of a million property sales were recorded. Daventry in Northamptonshire sees the biggest rise in home sales, up by 56% Property sales in the first ten months of were 21% higher than in the same period in 2013, according to new research by Lloyds Bank. This was the highest for this period since 2007 with the numbers of sales in England and Wales during January through to October totalling 760,000. There has been a considerable improvement in sales since the market reached the depth of its recession in in the first ten months of were 60% higher than in the same period in Nonetheless, sales remained more than a quarter (27%) below the levels achieved at the height of the boom in [Table 1] All regions saw a rise in sales in with the biggest increases compared with 2013 in the East Midlands (26%), West Midlands (25%) and the North West (25%). The smallest rise was in Greater London (11%). This is consistent with house price inflation where it is clear that the market has slowed sharply in the capital since last summer. [Table 1] In contrast, London has recorded the biggest pick-up in sales over the past five years as a whole with a 74% gain between 2009 and. All regions have seen rises of at least 50% over this period with the smallest rises in East Anglia (51%), the North (52%) and the South West (52%). [Table 1] in all regions, however, remain lower than 2007 levels with transactions in the northern regions furthest below: the North (-41%), the North West (-37%), Yorkshire & Humber (- 35%). The strongest recoveries have been in southern England: the South West (-19%), East Anglia (-20%) and the South East (-22%). [Table 1] Nearly all towns see a rise in housing activity in The overwhelming majority of towns in this survey 97% - saw an increase in sales between 2013 and. The majority of regions recorded an increase in all towns. London, however, experienced a decline in sales in a fifth (22%) of its boroughs. In contrast, all towns in the country saw a decline in sales in [Table 2]

2 Andy Hulme, Mortgages Director at Lloyds Bank, comments: "The recovery in the housing market continued in with sales rising further in almost all areas of the country. Low interest rates, improvements in the UK economy and Government schemes, such as Help to Buy, all appear to have contributed to the rise in home sales. Despite these improvements, sales both nationally and regionally are still significantly below their pre-recession levels. There is a clear north versus south pattern to the housing market recovery with sales closer to their 2007 levels in the south. Indeed, a small number of towns recorded higher sales last year than seven years earlier, but sales remained much lower than 2007 levels in most areas." Daventry and Alfreton in the East Midlands record biggest rises in home sales in Four towns recorded a 50% or more increase in sales between 2013 and with the biggest rises in Daventry (56%) and Alfreton (53%). Both towns are in the East Midlands with the region accounting for four of the ten towns recording the largest sales rises. [Table 3] Amersham in Buckinghamshire saw the biggest fall in sales with an 11% decline between the first ten months of 2013 and the same period in. Ealing was the worst performing London borough with a 10% decline. Seven London boroughs recorded a fall in sales. Overall, 13 towns (including London boroughs) experienced a drop in sales between 2013 and. [Table 4] are above 2007 levels in 12 towns Whilst sales nationally remain well below 2007 levels, sales in a small minority of towns (12 in total) in were above pre-recession levels. Home sales in Biggleswade in Bedfordshire are the highest in relation to 2007, at 19% above. in two Oxfordshire towns Wallingford (14%) and Didcot (12%) and St Neots in Cambridgeshire (12%) are the next highest. [Table 5] remain significantly below 2007 levels in the vast majority of towns. The ten towns where sales in were lowest in relation to 2007 are all in the north of England. Home sales in Nelson in Lancashire last year were almost two-thirds lower than in 2007 (-63%); the lowest level in relation to seven years ago. [Table 6]

3 Table 1: Property and % changes by region, * 2009* 2013* * % % % % North 60,220 23,333 29,503 35,498-61% -41% 52% 20% Yorkshire and the Humber 99,598 41,623 53,145 65,226-58% -35% 57% 23% North West 122,895 47,355 61,999 77,781-61% -37% 64% 25% East Midlands 83,151 38,123 49,368 62,439-54% -25% 64% 26% West Midlands 91,904 40,419 53,203 66,380-56% -28% 64% 25% East Anglia 48,145 25,431 31,700 38,394-47% -20% 51% 21% Wales 46,643 21,970 28,205 34,114-53% -27% 55% 21% South West 106,268 56,872 70,638 86,398-46% -19% 52% 22% South East 247, , , ,931-51% -22% 59% 21% Greater London 139,374 58,321 91, ,367-58% -27% 74% 11% England & Wales 1,045, , , ,689-55% -27% 60% 21% Table 2: % of towns with an annual rise/ fall in home sales by region, * 2008** 2013* 2013** * ** North 0% 100% 100% 0% 96% 4% Yorkshire and the Humber 0% 100% 96% 4% 100% 0% North West 0% 100% 98% 2% 100% 0% East Midlands 0% 100% 97% 3% 97% 3% West Midlands 0% 100% 100% 0% 100% 0% East Anglia 0% 100% 95% 5% 100% 0% Wales 0% 100% 100% 0% 100% 0% South West 0% 100% 98% 2% 100% 0% South East 0% 100% 98% 2% 97% 3% Greater London 0% 100% 100% 0% 78% 22% England & Wales 0% 100% 98% 2% 97% 3% Sources: Lloyds Bank, Land Registry *January to October *Proportion of towns that recorded an annual increase in home sales, **Proportion of towns that recorded an annual fall in home sales Table 3: Ten Towns with the highest % increase in property sales, 2013 % Daventry East Midlands 56% Alfreton East Midlands 53% Pudsey Yorkshire and the Humber 51% Sutton In Ashfield East Midlands 50% Selby Yorkshire and the Humber 48%

4 Corby East Midlands 47% Margate South East 46% Slough South East 45% Wickford South East 44% Clacton On Sea South East 44% Table 4: Towns with a fall in property sales, 2013 % Amersham South East -11% Ealing Greater London -10% Leatherhead South East -5% Southwark Greater London -5% Hammersmith And Fulham Greater London -4% Wallsend North -4% Islington Greater London -2% Stamford East Midlands -2% Richmond Upon Thames Greater London -2% Merton Greater London -1% Camden Greater London -1% Rickmansworth South East -1% Table 5: Towns with an increase in property sales, 2007 % Biggleswade South East 19% Wallingford South East 14% Didcot South East 12% St Neots East Anglia 12% Alton South East 10% Hinckley East Midlands 10% Romsey South East 7% Melksham South West 7% Evesham West Midlands 6% Newquay South West 2% Droitwich West Midlands 0.4% Malvern West Midlands 0.3%

5 Table 6: Ten Towns with the largest % fall in property sales, 2007 % Nelson North West -63% Wallsend North -58% Burnley North West -58% Consett North -56% Bradford Yorkshire and the Humber -54% Gateshead North -52% Dewsbury Yorkshire and the Humber -52% Accrington North West -50% Middlesbrough North -50% Salford North West -50% Editors' Notes Helping Britain Prosper Lloyds Bank, part of Lloyds Banking Group is playing its part in delivering the Group's Helping Britain Prosper Plan (the Plan). Launched in March, the Plan sets out seven separate and significant public commitments to do even more to help address some of the big issues facing its customers and Britain today. The first two commitments made within the Plan are: 1. We will help more customers get on the housing ladder - and more customers climb up it. 2. We will help our customer plan and save for later life To find out more about Lloyds Banking Group s commitment to Help Britain Prosper, please visit House Prices: The house price and sales data in this report is sourced from the HM Land Registry. House price data is from the Land Registry and refers to crude average prices. These prices are not standardised and therefore can be affected by changes in the sample from period to period. The data in the research covers the period January to October each year. Data produced by Land Registry Crown copyright For further information Chris Tuttlebee / christopher.tuttlebee@lloydsbanking.com Eve Speight eve.speight@lloydsbanking.com This information is intended for the sole use of journalists and media professionals. This report is prepared from information that we believe is collated with care, however, it is only intended to highlight issues and it is not intended to be comprehensive. We reserve the right to vary our methodology and to edit or discontinue/withdraw this, or any other report. Any use of this report for an individual's own or third party commercial purposes is done entirely at the risk of the person making such use and solely the responsibility of the person or persons making such reliance.