In a Land Registry list of the top areas by volume of sales, Lancashire is at number ten, with 3,744 – just below Merseyside. Greater London came top with 22,576.

During the same period, prices in most boroughs in the county fell, with the exception of Ribble Valley and Chorley, which saw increases of 17 per cent, and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

Simon Ainsworth, head of residential property at Napthens solicitors, says the news is a positive sign for the property market, and points to a house sale the firm is working on which saw a sale agreed in less than three days.

Average prices in Preston officially dropped by 17.8 per cent in the first quarter, based on 386 sales. The average price for a property was £130,704.

In South Ribble, prices fell by 10.5 per cent, based on 322 sales. The average South Ribble property was worth £160,084. In Lancaster, prices fell by 6.1 per cent, based on 436 sales, and the area had an average house price of £154,484.

According to Mr Ainsworth, the fall in prices should continue into the year, which could mean a light at the end of the tunnel for the housing market.

He said: “It is interesting that Lancashire to a certain extent started 2008 by bucking the trend of slow sales. “Despite a slowdown in the market, sales are still going through.

“This week Napthens has been instructed by an estate agents who put a house up for sale in Chorley on a Saturday, and had agreed the sale with buyers the following Monday. We hope to have this sale completed in less than a month.

“Sales have admittedly been slow for many in the property profession, as the market adjusts from the unsustainably high prices we were seeing last year. Many buyers are simply biding their time until prices fall (there are estimates that prices could fall more than ten per cent this year) before buying.

“This latest news of the buoyant market comes just a few weeks after Leyland was featured as one of the top ten places to live for value for money, on a television property show. It is fantastic that there is some positive news after so much uncertainty.”