THE number of property sales in Oxfordshire rose 31 per cent between April and June this year, according to the latest official figures.

Statistics from the Land Registry tonight showed the volume of sales completed in the county increased from 502 in April to 659 in June.

Sales remained roughly the same as during the same period last year, up from 1,748 in 2008 to 1,751 in 2009.

But even this figure compares well with national statistics, which showed the average monthly number of sales between April and June last year fell from 60,997 to 41,911 during the same period this year.

Sales in Oxfordshire hit a low of 273 transactions in February compared with 608 in February 2008 and 907 in 2007.

Month-on-month prices in the county rose 0.8 per cent last month, compared with a 0.1 per cent drop nationally.

Annually, Oxfordshire was in line with national figures — recording a year-on-year fall of 9.4 per cent in prices — taking the average cost of a house in the county to £219,729. Nationally, the average home now costs £155,968.

Giles Lawton, of Summertown-based estate agents Savills, said: “Our sales are encouraging.”