ESTATE agents have rubbished claims that Durham is the only city in the country to see house prices rise, bucking the national trend.

Figures released by the Nationwide Building Society, the country's second biggest mortgage lender, revealed prices in Durham rose by two per cent in the last 12 months - making the city the only location in the UK to avoid a slump.

Prices dropped by 8.6 per cent in the North and by 10.1 per cent in Yorkshire and Humberside.

The report recorded the biggest ever drop in prices nationally, with averages in the beleaguered housing market down by more than 12 per cent over the year, due to the ongoing effects of the credit crunch and the global financial crisis.

However, Paul Rickaby, managing director of Durham-based estate agent move2direct, said: "I'm sure if you asked ten agents in Durham, they would all say there's no way prices have gone up by two per cent in the last 12 months.

"Durham City is fighting the price drop better than outlying villages. But prices have certainly come down.

"Every day it seems to get worse and worse. It's a nightmare.

"I'd like to think within six months we were turning the corner but a lot has to happen before then."

John Nicholson, from Dowen in Durham, said: "We haven't suffered as much but there certainly haven't been increases."

According to the Nationwide survey, the average house price in Durham City now stands at £157,613, a little under the national average of £161,797.

The average price in the North is £123,019. In Yorkshire and Humberside it is £140,634.

The survey found that, across the country, house prices have fallen for the 11th consecutive month, down by 1.7 per cent during September, to create a total fall for the last year of 12.4 per cent.

Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "It seems that we would need to see a significant shift in consumers' sentiment before we begin to see any real recovery in activity and subsequently house prices."

Despite the recent house price falls, the average cost of a home is still 60 per cent higher than it was at the start of the decade.