HOUSE prices have continued to rise across the region, according to figures published yesterday.

Property website Rightmove said there were no signs of the housing market cooling in its May House Price Index.

The figures show that over the last quarter, house prices in the North have risen by 8.9 per cent from an average of £122,337 to an average of £133,254. In Yorkshire and Humberside, prices rose by 11.5 per cent from £122,393 to £136,514.

The price of the average home nationwide has risen by 8.3 per cent, or almost £14,500.

Miles Shipside, of Rightmove, said: "The owner-occupier has been doing very well this year. Just by owning the average property, he or she has been making a tax-free capital gain of over £1,100 a week.

"Even with a cool-down in the summer, I continue to believe that 20 per cent-plus house price inflation in 2004 is an almost certainty."

A breakdown of prices over just the past month shows a price rise in all regions, except Yorkshire and Humberside, which registered a very small decline.