ESTATE agents across Oxfordshire say a spiralling increase in sales has sparked a reversal in fortune after many closed branches earlier in the year.

Mark Charter, of Carter Jonas, said last night: “September has been our busiest month ever in terms of sales volumes.”

And Giles Lawton, of Savill’s Summertown office, said sales for the past few months were up 35 per cent compared to the same period last year.”

The agents’ remarks confirm statistics from the Government’s Land Registry, which showed the number of homes sold in the county increased 31 per cent between April and June this year – from 502 in April to 659 in June, the latest month for which figures are available.

Mr Lawton said: “Looking into the abyss 12 months ago was not fun, but things are looking brighter now.

“Anyone with a reasonable deposit and a job can now get credit and our sales are certainly encouraging.”

The pick-up in activity in the Oxfordshire property market has come as house prices have fallen.

Land Registry figures in August showed prices in Oxfordshire had fallen 9.4 per cent since this time last year – exactly in line with the national figure.

The average price of an Oxfordshire home in August this year was £219,729 — down from £242,399 in the same month last year and a peak of £248,637 in 2007.

But Oxfordshire home owners may find comfort even here.

Month on month figures for the county show a price increase of 0.8 per cent in August over the previous month.

Nationally, the price of a home dropped 0.1 per cent in the same period to just £155,729.

Mr Charter added: “During the depths of the abyss last year last year we didn’t close offices, but we did prune.

“We probably lost one job from each team.”

Chancellors closed its Eynsham and Charlbury offices earlier this year, but chairman James Scott-Lee said: “They were never hugely profitable.

“Now volumes are up, and we are talking about opening two more offices as well as making an acquisition. In times of difficulty there are opportunities too.”

But house price tracker Hometrack warned the market could slow when the pent-up demand caused by the credit crunch began to fade – especially in Oxford, where 37 per cent of employees are in the public sector.