House prices in the coastal towns of Sussex are outperforming their landlocked neighbours.

New figures out today show homeowners are paying a premium to live at the seaside, with prices in some coastal places soaring above the average increase in their region over the past three years.

In East Sussex, the average rise from 2001 to 2004 was £71,260, or 58 per cent, while the figure for the South-East during the same period is £66,211, or 45 per cent.

But in Hastings prices rocketed by 80 per cent to £150,832, the biggest price hike in Sussex.

In Brighton and Hove, the cost of property has risen by an average of 50 per cent since 2001, up to £197,840.

The rise has been even steeper in Eastbourne, where the average home costs £174,967 - £62,947 more than in 2001, a rise of 56 per cent.

Bexhill, Worthing and Newhaven also showed major increases.

On average, a house in Bexhill was 62 per cent cheaper in 2001, while in Worthing the figure was 61 per cent and Newhaven 60 per cent.

In Littlehampton, property values are 58 per cent higher than 2001. This put the average price of a home in Littlehampton at £198,280, making it the most expensive seaside resort in Sussex, according to the survey by Halifax Estate Agents.

The survey looked at more than 100 seaside towns in England and Wales and found three quarters recorded a price increase above the average for their region since 2001.

Top of the seaside property league was Padstow in Cornwall, where values rocketed by 144 per cent. The average des res there costs £267,445.

The cheapest place to buy a house by the sea was in the North, with homeowners in Barrow-In-Furness, Cumbria, paying about £69,390.

Other bargain locations included Maryport in Cumbria and Hartlepool in Cleveland.

Jane Pridgeon, managing director of Halifax Estate Agents, said: "Homeowners are clearly prepared to pay a premium for living by the sea."

The figures follow research released earlier this month, which predicted the average home in Sussex would increase in value by 13.5 per cent by 2008.

According to the survey by Your Mortgage magazine, the changes would be most noticeable in Brighton and Hove.

Homes in the city were expected to lose 2.5 per cent of their value next year but see an overall increase of 14.1 per cent by the end of 2008.

Tuesday August 31, 2004