The Land Registry received 11,219 sale and purchase agreements for all building-unit types for registration in October - an increase of 63.4% over September and 64.8% compared with October 2002.

Using a 12-month moving average, the figure for October  represented an increase of 5.8% over September, but a decrease of 11.6% compared with the same month a year earlier.

Agreements' worth increases more than 130%

The agreements in the month were valued at $32.1 billion, up 131.5% over September and 138.2% compared with the amount for October 2002.

Among the agreements, 9,360 were sale and purchase agreements for residential units. This was an increase of 66.2% over September and 59.6% compared with October 2002.