THE region saw one of the largest gains in house prices in the UK in March, official figures show.

Prices in the region rose by 19.4 per cent year-on-year, the second-largest jump in the UK after Wales.

But in the Yorkshire and Humber region, annual house price inflation eased slightly to 16.9 per cent, from 18.2 per cent the previous month.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) said annual house price inflation in the UK increased to 12.6 per cent for the year to the end of March, up from 10.5 per cent in the 12 months to the end of February.

It attributed the gain to a 2.1 per cent jump in house prices during March, which pushed the average cost of a home to £183,346.

Despite the rises in the North-East, it was still ranked with Scotland as the cheapest place to buy a home, with the average property costing £131,070.

The figures come only days after Britain's biggest mortgage lender, Halifax, said annual house price inflation had fallen to 7.8 per cent for the year to the end of last month, its lowest level since June 2001.

The ODPM explained the difference by saying its index was weighted differently to the index used by Halifax.

It said that because it based its figures on completion prices rather than mortgage approvals, its data also tended to lag about four weeks behind the Halifax figures.

The ODPM said prices rose for all types of property during March, with detached homes leading the way with a 3.5 per cent gain, followed by flats at 2.9 per cent.

First-time buyers in the UK are now paying an average of 18.3 per cent more to get on the property ladder than they were in March last year, with their first home costing about £149,470, while former owner-occupiers were paying 10.5 per cent more at £198,681.