Real estate and construction are leading the way out of recession, according the latest Begbies Traynor figures on the financial health of the UK.

The financial recovery specialist said that in the last quarter of 2012 the number of property firms facing financial problems more than halved compared with the previous quarter. The 57% fall in real estate was the biggest in any sector of the UK economy, repesenting a fall in real numbers of more than 20,000 cases to 15,343. This put real estate ahead of construction, which had a 34% drop, from 23,190 cases of distress to 15,291 cases.

Begbies defines companies with problems across a wide scale, ranging from relatively minor issues of county court judgments for less than £5,000 to those that have winding up petitions against them or have entered corporate voluntary arrangements.

The real estate and construction figures were in contrast to financial problems facing bars and restaurants, where problems increased by 48%, but overall the level of distress in the UK economy fell by 12%.

Julie Palmer, deputy regional managing partner of Begbies, said that the figures were good news. She added: "Although these sectors [real estate and construction] are typically the first to be hit in a recessionary environment, they are also the first to come out the other side, so this positive development could be a predictor of a slowly improving UK economy."