Emmerdale top of the soaps

Emmerdale top of the soaps

ITV's Emmerdale is the king of soap operas, at least in terms of property prices. According to the Halifax, house prices in the Yorkshire Dales town of Skipton have increased by 714 per cent in the past 20 years, compared with the UK average of 445 per cent. But while Jimmy King may be laughing, Dot Cotton is sobbing into her soap suds: EastEnders came bottom of the poll, with prices in the fictional Walford - or Waltham Forest, its real-life counterpart - rising by just 317 per cent since the show started in 1985.

&#149 The 2005 Homebuyer Show, the UK's largest residential property exhibition, is at London's ExCel Centre, Docklands, on 25-27 February. There are more than 200 exhibitors and seminars on subjects including buying off-plan and the implications of the Olympic bid. The Observer has 50 pairs of tickets to give away to the first readers to email their postal address to property@observer.co.uk

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&#149 A malaise called 'home-sellers' sickie' has been identified by National Homebuyers in a survey of 500 people. A crafty 35 per cent of employees took at least three days as sick leave when trying to sell their house. 'As house prices have levelled off, each purchase is taking longer. This problem looks set to get worse if the market doesn't pick up,' says Julian King of National Homebuyers.

&#149 Prime central London property prices look set to outperform the rest of the market, say consultants Savills. Six per cent growth is expected at the top end, compared with 2 per cent in the mainstream market. 'Over the past three years the value of the average £1.5 million property in prime central London has risen by just 2 per cent, while the average £150,000 house has grown 33 per cent,' says Richard Donnell, head of Savills Research. '[But improved] demand, together with tight supply, explains why this sector is expected to outperform over 2005.'

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005