Cowley has been named as one of the best places in Britain to sell a house.

The monthly report from Bradford & Bingley estate agents predicts house prices could soar by as much as ten per cent this year, with values driven up by a shortage of properties on the market.

Cowley is one of 12 hotspots named as most popular, with properties selling within two weeks on average.

The national figure is nine weeks, one week quicker than in February 2001.

In the south east, there are 14 potential buyers chasing every property up for sale, according to Bradford & Bingley, compared with a national ratio of eight to one.

Latest figures available from the Land Registry show the average price of homes sold in Oxfordshire during the fourth quarter of the year was £174,811, compared to £180,444 for the period from June to September.

The average Oxfordshire price for the same period in 2000 was £167,449, giving an annual inflation rate of 4.5 per cent.

However, terraced houses in Oxfordshire increased in price from £130,531 to £145,150 over the year, an inflation rate of 11.2 per cent.

Roger Gale, spokesman for Bradford & Bingley Estate Agents, said: "At the end of last year, we predicted that the market would continue to rise by no more than three to five per cent in 2002.

"However, it is unusual to be in a position so early in the new year where we feel that this prediction was over-conservative, as prices now look set to rise between five and 10 per cent."

He added that while potential buyers appeared to have come out to view properties ahead of the traditional spring surge, they were still reluctant to put their own property on the market until they found one they wanted to buy.

Research by the group found that the supply shortages were particularly acute at the top end of the market.

The supply shortage also seems to have hit first-time buyers, with the number of people entering the property market for the first-time falling by an average of six per cent between November and February.

The group found that nationally properties were selling for an average of 97 per cent of their original asking price.

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