The property boom in Sussex was today forecast to continue this year with house prices expected to soar by 20 per cent.

House values have rocketed in the past decade and, while some housing experts are predicting a slump, many are confident the trend will continue.

The predicted rise, which is further bad news for people wanting to climb on to the property ladder, is in a report published today by Hometrack.

It shows that some of the biggest house price rises over the past year were in East Sussex, as well as areas such as Cornwall, Teesside and Derbyshire.

The average property in the area is £147,700, after a 2.6 per cent rise in June. The average house price countrywide is £131,500.

Elsewhere, in a table of regions across Britain, West Sussex was in 33rd place for areas experiencing price rises. Property prices rose by two per cent last month and have risen by 9.8 per cent so far this year, making the average property £174,500.

In addition to this year's jump, prices are expected to continue to rise in 2003, although at a slower rate of eight per cent.

John Wriglesworth, housing economist at Hometrack, said that despite the boom he was not expecting a crash, although he said there could be some places where owners who have paid high prices could see falls.

He said: "Maybe there will be some overshoots in some areas.

"Some places will have price falls but it is not going to be an Eighties-style crash. The housing market has still got a hell of a lot of fuel left in its motor."

Mr Wriglesworth said that "barring a significant interest rate rise or the Government panicking and interfering in the booming housing market" prices would continue to rise strongly for at least another year.

The boom in housing prices was on the back of the lowest mortgage rates for 50 years, continuing low unemployment, a rising population and an acute shortage of supply.

Figures from the Land Registry published in May showed the price of an average detached house in Brighton and Hove soared by £28,000 in the past year. In West Sussex, the price of similar properties also went up by £28,000 and in East Sussex by £24,000.

In the first quarter of this year, showed the Land Registry figures, an average detached house in Brighton and Hove would set you back £264,488 compared to £210,605 for the same quarter the previous year.

The average price of a property in the city in the first three months of this year cost £152,317 compared to £108,176 for the same period the previous year.

But not everyone is so optimistic about the housing market. Investment magazine Investors Chronicle last week predicted that property was set to lose around 10 per cent of its value by 2004.

Investors Chronicle said higher interest rates, rising unemployment and more expensive mortgage repayments relative to income would cause house prices to begin falling during 2003.

Other notes of caution have come from Sir Howard Davies, chairman of City watchdog the Financial Services Authority, and Bank of England governor Sir Edward George.

Sir Howard said some home-buyers were taking on loans they "may live to regret" and it would not be surprising if there was a downturn in house prices in London and the South-East.

Sir Edward said the current rate of house price inflation was unsustainable and if it fed into consumer demand and threatened inflation, the bank would act to curb it with an interest rate rise.

The Nationwide building society has said affordability was stretched for people on average earnings who were trying to get on to the property ladder, with them needing to earn £26,000 to afford an average first-time buyer property with a five per cent deposit and three times mortgage, £2,000 more than the average salary of £24,000.