THE gap between house prices in the South and the North of England - including the North-East, Yorkshire, Midlands and the North West - has reached a record high, exceeding £150,000 for the first time, Nationwide Building Society has reported.

In the North, an average house is now worth £150,851 - but across the South the value of a property is double this amount - at £303,811 typically.

The pace of price growth in southern England has consistently been outstripping that seen in the North for the last six and a half years, the report said.

Prices in the North have edged up by just 1 per cent annually.

Meanwhile, southern England - including the South West, the South East, London and the commuter belt areas as well as East Anglia - have increased by 8 per cent year on year.

Across the UK, property values increased by 0.5 per cent in September to reach £195,585 on average, also marking a 3.8 per cent increase on a year ago.

"In cash terms, the gap in average prices between the South and the North of England is at a record high, exceeding £150,000 for the first time, with average prices in the South now twice as high as those in the North," the report said.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said that, in general, there has been a slowdown in the pace of house price growth since the middle of 2014, with increases showing signs of falling more closely into line with wage growth.

But there was a "mixed picture" across the regions in the third quarter of 2015, with the rate of house price growth accelerating in southern England and particularly London, but slowing down in the Midlands and most northern areas, according to the report.