Property prices in Brighton and Hove are rising by more than £500 a week - the fastest rate since records began.

Figures out today show the average asking price in Brighton and Hove jumped £27,000 last year, making the city the fastest-growing property market in Britain and fuelling fears that the booming housing market is heading for a crash The figures from the Land Registry mean a typical home is now earning more than its owner.

Nationally, the average worker is on a gross salary of about £23,000 a year, giving monthly takehome pay of about £1,500.

This figure is eclipsed by the growing fortune tied up in the value of the typical home, which is rising by £74 a day.

The price of a typical home in Brighton and Hove had reached more than £217,000 by March.

The cost of buying a home means properties which used to be a relative bargain are now affordable only to the rich.

Last month, a report from financial analysts Datamonitor warned of a threat that a sharp fall in prices could be on the way.

Karina Purang, the report's author, said: "Undoubtedly, house prices cannot keep going up for ever."

Statistics show the average salary in Brighton and Hove is £26,461.

Key workers, such as nurses, teachers and policemen, cannot afford to buy homes in 70 per cent of towns across Britain, a figure which has almost doubled from 36 per cent five years ago, according to research by Halifax.

A typical buyer now takes out a mortgage for £150,000, with some borrowing up to nine times their salary.

The GMB said workers were being priced out of the housing market by the influx of wealthier buyers from outside the city, mostly from London.

Hugh Tucknott, of the Brighton and Hove Estate Agents Association, said: "It is great news for people with property but the rate of increase is quite frightening for everyone else.

"It is becoming very difficult for first time buyers to get on to the ladder. There simply are not enough homes at affordable prices. There is an urgent need for more one and two-bedroom homes."

Last month The Argus revealed the cost of buying a home in Brighton and Hove had increased by 280 per cent since 1997.

The new figures from the Land Registry's house price index show an average increase of more than 14 per cent in the past year.

House prices in England and Wales have risen by more than eight per cent in 12 months, taking the average price of a property to £178,423.

The rise is one of the highest annual increases in years.

Average prices rose from £179,929 to £194,374 in East Sussex and from £201,871 to £219,497 in West Sussex.

Publishing worker Sam Thomson, 27, bought a flat near The Level, Brighton, in August and said he would not have been able to afford it if he had waited until now.

Mr Thomson, who earns £26,000 a year, said: "To buy anywhere now you need a salary of at least £35,000.

"Younger people can't afford that. They need more affordable housing."

Tom Green and Leilah Austin-Fell, both 26, have been searching for a flat costing around £175,000 which they will only be able to afford because of a loan from relatives.

Mr Green, a designer, said: "We know we could get a lot more for our money elsewhere but we really want to live in Brighton or Hove.

"I've always lived here and I don't want to be forced out."