House price rises continue unabated
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An average of �449m was spent each day last year by people in England and Wales buying homes, according to research from Clear Cut Mortgages.
The study found that 2,890 homes changed hands each day on average, as the property boom continued apace.
But 2004 will see the housing market level off, Clear Cut said.
The housing market in London and the South East will be flat, although prices and sales volumes may rise in the North and Wales, the firm added.
Balancing act
In total, �164bn was spent on more than one million properties in England and Wales during 2003.
In fact, the total spent on homes by people in England and Wales in 2003 was more than the entire gross domestic product of South Africa.
People in the south east of England spent the most last year, with an average of 660 houses sold each day with a total value of �131m.
London was the second most active region, with 356 homes a day sold to a value of �90m.
At the other end of the scale, 146 houses a day were sold in Wales worth just over �14m.
However, the traditional North-South housing gap is closing according to Clear Cut.
"We will see continued growth in sales in the northern regions and house prices will rise more sharply in 2004 here (the North), balancing out a southern slowdown," said Ben Thompson, a director at Clear Cut Mortgages.
Many housing experts were predicting the property market would cool during 2004, but recent surveys from the main mortgage lenders have shown house prices accelerating again.
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House sales in England and Wales
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Region
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Daily house sales
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Daily sales value (�m)
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Annual house sales
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Annual sales value (�bn)
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South East
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660
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131.4
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240,764
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47.9
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London
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356
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90.2
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129,866
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32.9
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North West
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351
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35.7
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128,214
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13
|
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South West
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306
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51.9
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111,664
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18.9
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Yorks & Humber
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254
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28.8
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101,455
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10.5
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West Midlands
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254
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33.1
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92,733
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12.1
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East Midlands
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244
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28.6
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88,879
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10.4
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North
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166
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15.7
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60,430
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5.7
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Wales
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146
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14.9
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53,184
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5.4
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East Anglia
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131
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19.5
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47,747
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7.1
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Source: Clear Cut Mortgages (sorted by number of daily transactions)
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