Countrywide: UK is not facing housing bubble Estate agent chain Countrywide have reported improved results, but warn that the recovery is still at an early stage. Last year the firm sold 9% more homes and arranged 26% more mortgages than in 2012. Countrywide Chief Executive Grenville Turner told BBC Radio 5 live's Breakfast: "We are a million miles away from a housing bubble... in the vast majority of UK house prices are still below the peak of 2007."