THE price of properties in market towns is soaring, figures showed yesterday.

Halifax, which analysed property prices in 112 English market towns and some larger villages, said the cost of a home had at least doubled in all but four of the towns since 1995 as people left the cities for the countryside.

Two-thirds of market towns also had average house prices that were higher than the county average, while in the majority of towns, property was also more expensive than the regional average.

The group carried out the survey on towns and villages with a population of between 3,000 and 30,000. In ten, the average house price was more than £250,000.

The most expensive market towns in the region were Easingwold, in North Yorkshire, where houses cost an average of £219,804, and Wetherby, where the average price has risen to £226,643.

Of the towns surveyed, house prices had at least doubled, with only four exceptions, which included Saltburn, in Teesside, and Ferryhill, County Durham, where average prices are about half that of houses in the surrounding county.

Beaconsfield, in Buckinghamshire, is the most expensive market town to live in, with an average property price of £550,495, followed by Midhurst, in West Sussex, at £279,840, and Ringwood, in Hampshire, at £279,266.

Thirty-six market towns also had prices of more than £200,000, the majority of which were in the South-East.

Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis said: "Market towns are usually very attractive places to live. This is reflected in the majority of market towns having higher property prices than their surrounding counties and the more than doubling in average prices since 1995 in all but a few exceptions."