Figures reveal a home sales slump
Only 759 homes were sold in Shropshire in the last three months of 2008, new figures have revealed.
Only 759 homes were sold in Shropshire in the last three months of 2008, new figures have revealed.
In some postcode areas as few as just three homes changed hands, with most properties sold either homes on new estates or flats and maisonettes.
The grim figures compare to more than 1,700 homes sold in the first three months of 2007, when the UK property market was still experiencing a boom.
The figure is also down on the third quarter of 2008, when a total of 1,036 homes sold across the SY and TF postcode areas.
Research from the Land Registry show the hotspots for home sales in the Shropshire area were in the Castlefields and Coton Hill area, where 30 semi-detached and terraced homes were sold.
In Telford & Wrekin, the top postcode area for sales was TF1 2, the area surrounding Lawley where hundreds of new homes are being built as part of the Ironstone development.
The most expensive area to buy homes in the county was Much Wenlock, with an average selling price of £429,400.
Zone
It was followed in the Telford & Wrekin area by Sheriffhales, in the TF10 9 zone, where properties were selling for about £330,200 and the northern end of Newport, around TF9 2, where the average selling price was £302,399.
In Shropshire, the most expensive homes sold were in the Ditton Priors postcode zone of SY7 9, where prices averaged about £385,833, closely followed by SY4 3, around Harmer Hill, at about £383,000.
Today's report follows a RICS survey which revealed the average number of homes being sold across Shropshire and the West Midlands in the last three months is 12, down from 13 last month.
RICS spokesman Jeremy Dell, of JJ Dell and Co, Oswestry, said: "There has been an upturn in activity during early 2009 but offers remain low as expectations of further price falls hamper the market. Confidence remains muted but we hope this may improve as the year progress".
The number of mortgages taken out by people buying a home has fallen to its lowest level since 1974 during 2008, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said yesterday.
By Business Editor Amy Bould
