You have a different system up there though, don't you, with the 'for sale' being a starting point and sealed bids inevitably leading to much higher selling prices.
My line of work tells me prices south of the border, and particularly in the SE, are on the move up as there is more movement in the house construction - i.e. greater confidence -BUT, until the banks/building societies start reducing their deposit expectations for first time buyers, it is a slow improvement.