This is the first year that this has been the case. In 2001, nearly two in three counties – 63 out of 101 - had an average price below £100,000.
The ten counties that have delivered the highest house price growth over the past five years are all in Wales and Scotland. (The unitary authorities of Scotland and Wales are referred to as counties for the purposes of this research.) Nine of the ten counties recording the smallest price gains over the same period are in Southern England.
Nineteen counties had an average price in excess of £200,000 in 2006. Five years ago, Surrey was the only county with an average price above £200,000.
Biggest House Price Increases 2001-2006
Merthyr Tydfil has recorded the biggest house price rises over the past five years with a 175% gain, taking the average price from £45,578 in 2001 to £125,450 in 2006.
The next five best performers during the past five years were also all in Wales: Blaenau Gwent (160%), Carmarthenshire (156%), Isle of Anglesey (143%), Rhondda, Cynon, Taff (138%) and Conwy (136%).
The top performing counties in England between 2001 and 2006 are County Durham (127%) and the East Riding of Yorkshire (121%).
The average house price has more than doubled since 2001 in nearly one in two counties (48 out of 101).
No county in southern England has seen prices double since 2001 with Cornwall (95%) and Devon (78%) recording the biggest price rises over the period.
Smallest House Price Gains 2001-2006
Seven counties have experienced house price rises of 50% or less since 2001. All these counties are in the South East and South West.
Hampshire and Wiltshire (both 41%) have recorded the lowest average house price gains in the past five years followed by Berkshire (42%) and Oxfordshire (43%).
Most Expensive Counties
Surrey remains the most expensive county in the UK with an average price in 2006 of £328,453.
Surrey, Hertfordshire and Berkshire were the three most expensive counties in the UK in both 2001 and 2006. These three counties, together with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, comprised the five most expensive counties in the UK both now and five years ago.
Nine of the ten most expensive counties in 2006 are in the South East with Dorset in the South West being the exception. The 10 most expensive counties all have an average price in excess of £200,000.
The most expensive areas outside southern England are Monmouthshire (£208,038), Warwickshire (£206,024), Edinburgh (£202,545) and North Yorkshire (£202,477).
Least Expensive Counties
Blaenau Gwent remains the least expensive county in the UK with an average house price in 2006 of £107,451 (£41,352 in 2001) despite recording the second biggest rise in average house prices in the UK over the five years.
Nine of the ten least expensive counties in the UK in 2006 are in Scotland (6) and Wales (3). In 2001, five of the least expensive areas were in Scotland with four in Wales.
Commenting, Martin Ellis, chief economist for Halifax, said: "Wales, Scotland and, to a lesser extent, Northern Ireland, have dominated the UK county league table for house price growth over the past five years. Southern England, by contrast, has lagged behind. Much of the outperformance by these parts of the UK has been part of a catch-up process with the greater availability of more affordable property stimulating demand and therefore allowing prices to rise more quickly.
"It is noteworthy that counties in the South East have retained their position as the most expensive whilst the least expensive counties continue to be in Scotland and Wales. Overall, there has been little change in the relative position of counties in the house price league over the past five years."
