Do you live in a property hotspot?

Property prices may have increased in England and Wales over the last year, but the property boom has been by no means uniform, according to a survey obtained by BBC News Online.

Despite frenzied activity in many parts of the country - with buyers literally fighting over housing stock - many other areas have experienced little or no sales activity.

The survey by information and credit checking company Experian looks at postcode areas, revealing that Britain's housing market is remarkably "patchy".

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It also suggests that in many parts of the country market conditions are now in favour of buyers.

Top hotspot

Looking at major towns and cities, the number one hotspot in the UK or the area which has seen the most sales activity over the last 12 months has been the Northampton area.

Out of 240,513 homes in the Northampton area, 5.75% or 13,839 households changed hands.

Prices have rocketed in the area over the last couple of years.

According to the Land Registry, the cost of a detached house has risen from just £105,160 to £147,496 over the last two years.

Coastal ambitions

Seaside resorts Torquay and Brighton are not far behind.

Even though prices are buoyant, the housing market has become extremely patchy across England and Wales, suggesting that we have moved from a sellers to a buyers market in much of Britain

Bruno Rost, Experian

The area around Torquay has 116,022 properties, but 6,651 of those were sold during the last 12 months - 5.73% of all properties in the area.

Torbay has also seen rapid price rises over the last two years. The average cost of purchasing a detached property in two years ago was only £110,867, but a similar home would cost £159,456 today.

In Brighton, the prospect of a new high speed rail link connection to London is thought to have increased the desirability of the area.

With 18,482 transactions out of its 340,239 households, 5.43% of all properties changed hands.

Property prices have rocketed in the Brighton area over the last couple of years.

Over the last three years, the average cost of a detached property has almost doubled from only £128,026 to £213,612 for a similar home.

Cold spots

Central London has seen the smallest number of sales with just 2% of its households changing hands.

Just 285 homes out of the total 13,938 were sold during the last 12 months.

With some of the most expensive properties in the country, experts have suggested that this is an indication of how unaffordable properties have become in the capital.

Bruno Rost of Experian said: "The fact that Central London has experienced the fewest sales as a proportion of households suggest that the market maybe starting to falter at the high value end, which is particularly worrying."

Llandrindod Wells has also seen few transactions with only 2.2% and Swansea only 2.5%.

Although property prices have risen in these areas, price rises have not been as great.

For example, the cost of a detached house in Swansea has increased from £90,938 to £108,203 over the last two years.

Buyers' market

Experian believes that the data is an indication that in many parts of the country, the market is moving in favour of buyers.

"The analysis reveals that even though prices are buoyant, the market has become extremely patchy across England and Wales, suggesting that we have moved from a sellers to a buyers market in much of Britain," said Mr Rost.

Inequality

On a smaller scale, the survey also shows that in some areas such as North Stifford in Essex, Milton Keynes Village, Kingsnorth near Tunbridge Wells and Wapping West in London's East End, up to a quarter of properties have changed hands over the last 12 months.

However, the survey also reveals that there are many cold spots, which the housing boom has simply passed by.

Cold spots include the Christow Street area of Leicester, Chapel Street area of Birmingham, and Jason Street area in Liverpool.

In the Christow Street area of Leicester, for example, there has been just one sale out of over 1700 properties - or 0.06% of households in its postcode sector.

Postal Area	Postal Area Name	Transactions as a % of Total Households
NN	Northampton	5.75
TQ	Torquay	5.73
BN	Brighton	5.43
BH	Bournemouth	5.38
MK	Milton keynes	5.38
FY	Blackpool	5.14
ME	Medway	5.12
EN	Enfield	5.07
CO	Colchester	5.06
BA	Bath	5.04
PO	Portsmouth	5.04
LU	Luton	4.95
SM	Sutton	4.89
SN	Swindon	4.88
EC	London EC	4.87
GU	Guildford	4.87
KT	Kingston-upon-Thames	4.85
PE	Peterborough	4.80
EX	Exeter	4.78
TA	Taunton	4.75
CM	Chelmsford	4.72
PL	Plymouth	4.72
RG	Reading	4.66
TR	Truro	4.62
SW	London SW	4.61
CW	Crewe	4.60
BB	Blackburn	4.58
SL	Slough	4.58
BS	Bristol	4.57
AL	St Albans	4.57
SG	Stevenage	4.57
YO	York	4.57
LA	Lancaster	4.56
TN	Tunbridge Wells	4.55
E	London E	4.55
SS	Southend-on-Sea	4.51
RH	Redhill	4.48
SO	Southampton	4.46
CV	Coventry	4.45
WD	Watford	4.43
RM	Romford	4.42
LE	Leicester	4.42
PR	Preston	4.41
HG	Harrogate	4.39
NR	Norwich	4.39
TF	Telford	4.35
LN	Lincoln	4.34
DT	Dorchester	4.32
BR	Bromley	4.32
OX	Oxford	4.30
HX	Halifax	4.28
GL	Gloucester	4.27
SE	London SE	4.24
HP	Hemel Hempstead	4.23
DE	Derby	4.23
IG	Ilford	4.23
WR	Worcester	4.22
HR	Hereford	4.21
DA	Dartford	4.21
SP	Salisbury	4.20
CB	Cambridge	4.20
BD	Bradford	4.18
IP	Ipswich	4.18
NG	Nottingham	4.14
TW	Twickenham	4.11
HA	Harrow	3.95
CT	Canterbury	3.92
SK	Stockport	3.87
LS	Leeds	3.86
BL	Bolton	3.86
DL	Darlington	3.83
CA	Carlisle	3.82
OL	Oldham	3.82
CH	Chester	3.77
HD	Huddersfield	3.75
UB	Southall	3.75
WA	Warrington	3.74
W	London W	3.71
B	Birmingham	3.71
NW	London NW	3.69
DN	Doncaster	3.63
CR	Croydon	3.61
TS	Cleveland	3.60
WF	Wakefield	3.56
DH	Durham	3.52
NE	Newcastle	3.52
N	London N	3.46
WS	Walsall	3.46
SY	Shrewbury	3.45
ST	Stoke-on-Trent	3.45
TD	Galashiels	3.45
WN	Wigan	3.39
M	Manchester	3.34
CF	Cardiff	3.31
NP	Newport	3.27
DY	Dudley	3.24
S	Sheffield	3.18
SR	Sunderland	3.11
HU	Hull	3.10
LL	Llandudno	3.10
WV	Wolverhampton	3.03
L	Liverpool	2.92
SA	Swansea	2.53
LD	Llandrindod Wells	2.20
WC	London WC	2.04

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