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The National Magazine Company's House Beautiful snatched second place, despite seeing a 10.2 per cent dip.

NatMags may have closed and sold off Your Home but there seems to be little evidence of readers transferring to other magazines.

The largest period-on-period rise was only 3.7 per cent, posted by Country Living.

None of the titles in the sector made any substantial gain as the housing market remains in a state of flux.

Homes & Gardens experienced a turnaround on last year's 2.4 per cent drop in readership for the same period.

Sandy Whetton, the managing director of IPC Southbank, said: "The homes sector has shown resilience. However, there have been casualties as customers migrate from budget titles to the middle-ground titles."

All titles in the garden sector experienced a rise in sales period on period. This set of figures covers the spring season when most people turn their attentions to the garden.

The BBC's Gardeners' World led the sector with the second largest increase period on period of 22 per cent.

Verdict Gardening titles look set to see a decline in the next set of figures as the seasonal variations take their toll. The home-interest sector will also need some solid performances while the housing market remains unsettled.

HOME-INTEREST MAGAZINES
TITLE                PUBLISHER       Total ABC    Period on      Year on
                                                  period %         year
Ideal Home           IPC               273,489        -1.30        -0.90
House Beautiful      NatMags           170,200         0.10       -10.20
Country Living       NatMags           170,137         3.70         4.30
Homes & Gardens      IPC               161,553         2.30         3.40
Homes & Antiques     BBC               151,307         0.60        -5.80
House & Garden       Conde Nast        148,607         0.00         0.10
25 Beautiful Homes   IPC               132,759        -1.30        -0.80
The Real Homes Mag   Highbury Cabal    116,104       -15.60       -12.70
Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations (Jan-June 2003).
GARDENING MAGAZINES
TITLE                     PUBLISHER   Total ABC    Period on     Year on
                                                   period %        year
Gardeners' World          BBC           360,236        22.00        2.90
The Garden                Emap          312,183         2.00        4.90
Garden Answers            Emap           87,034        27.70      -11.30
The English Garden (Gp)   Romsey         84,333         8.20        2.10
Amateur Gardening         IPC            64,160        14.10       -3.20
Garden News               Emap           57,036         9.60       -3.20

The English Garden (NA) Romsey 43,547 5.70 4.60

The English Garden (UK) Romsey 40,786 11.00 -0.40

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations (Jan-June 2003).