 The UK property market gathered pace as home sales hit their highest level of the year in November, according to official data. But the increase in activity was almost entirely due to increased activity in England, revealed figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). It reported that 85,000 homes were sold in the UK during November, up 9,000 on November 2010 and 6,000 more than in October 2011. November's total, the highest monthly figure since July 2010, saw momentum in England, where 73,000 properties were sold compared with 68,000 the previous month. But sales figures remained broadly unchanged in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And the Council of Mortgage Lenders is pessimistic about the future. It expects the number of housing transactions to fall from an estimated 852,000 this year to 825,000 in 2012 - which would be the lowest since it began taking records in 1978. |