Croydon saw the second biggest increase in the number of homes sold in the first half of the year, according to a survey of the national housing market published yesterday.
The survey, conducted by t’Halifax, saw a 73 per cent increase compared to the Jan-Jun period of 2009 and suggests what the Press Association calls “a two-speed housing market”, with a classic north-south divide.
Ilford, which experienced an 83 per cent sales increase this year, Croydon and eight other towns in London and the south-east top the table.
PA reports, “All except three of the 10 towns that have seen the slowest recovery in transaction levels are in northern regions, including three places where there has been no pick up at all.”
Averaged over the whole of England and Wales, property transactions have increased by 27 per cent, though they still remain well down on levels seen before the credit crunch.
The findings come as no surprise: as we have stated before, national house price surveys are a blunt instrument, and rarely reflect accurately the state of the market in Croydon and the surrounding area, where demand for homes historically outstrips supply.