It may look like an ordinary one-bedroom terrace cottage - but 5 Back Clarence Road holds a place in financial history.

The unassuming Horsforth house is blazing a trail through the property market by becoming the first to be sold to shareholders in a pioneering new internet property deal.

No less than 65 investors now hold shares in the cottage - with the smallest investor paying just £1 for a 1/104,000th share in the property.

The house is the first to be sold by Opromark, the UK's first property exchange, which was launched in June this year.

The company, which now has 1,000 members able to invest in residential property, announced the sale of the Horsforth cottage this week.

Under the innovative scheme a minimum investment of £1 is enough to gain a foothold in the home-buying market.

The company believes the scheme will open up the buy-to-let market to a wide range of investors, for many of whom such investment would previously have been impossible.

It also says the scheme will help those struggling to get onto the housing market. Investors will not have to worry about administration, estate agents, finding tenants, or managing and maintaining the property.

The Horsforth house, which was valued at £104,000 at the point of sale, will be rented out and is expected to generate rental yields of £450 per month.

Opromark says the local lettings market in Horsforth and in North Leeds generally has been consistently strong over the last ten to 15 years and has proved to be a prime location for buy to let investors.

The 65 owners will receive a proportionate amount from the rental income, and they will be able to sell their shares at any time through the exchange - at a gain if the market has risen or at a loss if it has fallen.

Stephen Kenny, Chief Executive of Opromark said: "The characteristics of the first ever exchange traded property sale are entirely indicative of the advantages of Opromark.

"Sixty-five individual investors, investing an average of £1,600 each, prove just how accessible Opromark makes the buy to let market, and how easy it is to diversify a property portfolio using the service."

He said they were delighted with the level of progress since the exchange was launched. He added that many other properties were available on the exchange and were being subscribed to "at a healthy rate."

"Completing the first sale marks an important watershed for Opromark and as the exchange develops, it will offer increasingly attractive opportunities for people seeking to invest in property without encountering the barriers to entry usually associated with the asset class."

Nick Simpson, Director of Linley and Simpson letting agency, said: "We are pleased to be associated with this unique and ground-breaking venture and delighted that the first ever property to be sold through an exchange of this sort is in Leeds."