According to Her Majesty Revenue and Customs August was a very strong month for house sales.

HMRC quote a figure 106,480 transactions which is the most since February. However, this figure is still well down on numbers in excess of 130,000 which was typical during the pre ‘Northern Rock nationalisation’ period.

This shows that although we have a strong housing market we are far off the boom times many of us remember (not necessarily with fondness).

What I suspect is happening is that some areas such as London and the South East are seeing higher transaction levels than places like South Wales and the old industrial areas of the north. Unfortunately the housing market has never been more disjointed as people move towards more affluent areas with employment and prospects and away from areas where opportunity is more limited.