The Market

December kicked right off in Douglas & Gordon's patch, with a 50% increase in the number of properties hitting the market, a 20% jump in new buyer registrations and a 40% hike in the number of offers received

Savills has launched a new interactive property price map of the UK by pointing out that house prices rose, on average, by 7% in 2013

The National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Lettings Agents are launching TV advertising campaigns to promote the importance of choosing a licensed sales or lettings agent

A BBC investigation has claimed that £1.5 billion of Section 106 money remains "unspent" by English councils, with a whopping £421m yet to even be allocated to anything.

New "Right to Contest" powers have officially come into force today, allowing the public to contest the use of central government land and property and apply for its release.

"The London influence on the rest of the UK remains weak," says Jackson-Stops & Staff, which has led to two very distinct markets emerging from the economic woes of the last five years

The London suburb of Fulham saw more £1m+ sales than any other area of the UK last year, with a whopping 335 deals at an average price of£1,779,323.

Prime central London prices turned in a strong finish to the year, with a 0.8% rise in December halting a ten-month slowing in the rate of annual growth, which had dropped to 6.9% in November

Egerton Crescent in South Kensington has been given the title of "Nation's Most Expensive Address" by Lloyds Bank for the second year running, with an average sale price of £7,369,000.

The latest (November) Land Registry Index  is out and there sure are some interesting stats on 2013's sales volumes.

Reporting back from the salubrious Surrey & Berkshire suburbs, Julian Amos reflects on last year's game of two halves and why this year's buyers need to take advice from those in the know..

The average price of a prime country house in the UK climbed by 1.4% in the final quarter of 2013, according to Knight Frank, taking the annual rise to 3.1%