Country homes in Sussex are defying the housing slump, with prices soaring by ten per cent.

The return of hefty City bonuses means properties at the higher end of the market, such as mansions and farmhouses, are once again commanding top figures.

Country homes specialist Knight Frank reports that prices rose by ten per cent in the first half of the year, helping to make up for a seven per cent fall last year.

The Argus reported in later editions yesterday that homes in Brighton and Hove lost more value than anywhere else in England and Wales last month, dipping by 1.9 per cent according to property web site Hometrack.

A detached house previously worth £322,000 had £6,400 wiped off its market value in July.

Flats and maisonettes, with an average selling price of £144,000, fell by £2,736.

Knight Frank said a typical farmhouse with five or six bedrooms and ten acres of land would now sell for about £1 million, 13 per cent up on last year.

The price of cottages rose by 12.7 per cent to between £400,000 and £450,000 for a three-bedroom property with an acre of land, while the cost of a manor house increased 9.7 per cent to about £1.9 million.

Rupert Sweeting, a partner in the firm's country department, predicted prices would probably remain stable for the rest of 2004.

He said: "There are different factors at play at different ends of the market."

Among the properties the firm has for sale is the £3.5 million Trotton Place, near Midhurst, a Grade II listed Queen Anne house.