New data analysis from Yopa, the full-service estate agents, has revealed that while the East of England has been the most active region of the housing market over the last five years, four of the five most active local authorities are found within London.

Yopa analysed the total number of completed residential transactions over the last five years* compared to the percentage of owner occupied housing stock in each area of the nation*, to reveal where England’s most active housing markets are.

The research shows that just under 3.9m homes have sold across England over the last five years, equating to 23.9% of total owner occupied housing stock.

The most active region has been the East of England where total sales over the last five years equate to 24.5% of all owner occupied homes, whilst the West Midlands has seen the lowest level of activity at 23.1%.

However, at local authority level, six of the top 10 most active markets are found in London.

Across the London Borough of Tower Hamlets some 16,483 property transactions have taken place over the last five years, equating to 43.1% of all owner occupied properties within the borough – the highest level of market activity across the nation.

Hackney ranks second at 34.8%, followed by Lambeth (34.8%) and Wandsworth (33.3%), whilst Southwark (31%) sits at number six, with Hammersmith and Fulham (29.9%) in eighth spot.

Outside of the capital, Norwich has seen the highest level of market activity and the fifth highest in the nation, with 9,739 homes sold over the last five years equating to 31.2% of all owner occupied homes.

Hastings (30.9%), South Derbyshire (29.7%) and Milton Keynes (29.5%) also rank within the top 10.

In contrast, the London Boroughs of Brent, Harrow, and Redbridge have seen the least active markets with homes sold in the last five years equating to just 16.5% of all owner occupied homes in each of the three districts.

Yopa’s National Franchise Director, Steve Anderson, commented:

“England’s housing market is very much a local affair. Looking at the top level regional data, we see a fairly uniform turnover of stock in the past five years, varying by little more than one percent between the most and least active areas.

But the local authority analysis shows us just how different the situation really is on a more granular level.  In some areas we’re seeing a churn of 43%, and others as low as 16%.

Home sellers are wise to learn as much as they can about their hyper local market to best understand what kind of value their home has based on what kind of buyer demand there is. Because while Tower Hamlets and Redbridge, for example, are only a few miles apart in the same city, there’s a world of difference in just how active their respective housing markets are.”

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