Latest figures compiled by the Northampton-based building society Nationwide show the average price of a house in Northampton is now £187,927, an increase of £4,162 from a year ago.

The result puts Northampton in 20th position of the towns and cities surveyed by Nationwide, just one place behind Leeds and ahead of major places such as Glasgow, Bradford and Coventry.

Northampton estate agent Alex Houghton, who works at Whites in Wellingborough Road, said he believed the rise followed a healthy start to sales in 2007. He said: “We had a very good first nine months of the year, then things levelled off a little.

“I think a lot of people are waiting at the moment to see exactly how the housing market will pan out in the New Year so the number of people coming into the office making inquiries has dropped off a bit.

“But we are hopeful that things will turn round in the New Year.”

Across Northampton, the average cost of a house rose by two per cent.

The figure was higher than in areas such as Birmingham and Sheffield, where prices rose by just one per cent, but way behind towns at the top of the table such as Belfast, where the average went up by 32 per cent.

Nationwide’s chief economist, Fionnuala Earley, said: “House price growth recorded another strong year in 2007, but the national figures disguise movements in different parts of the country.

“Belfast for example saw the fastest rate of house price growth in 2007. Prices increased by 32 per cent to take the average house price to £306,698.

“This is equivalent to an increase of £201 per day and brings Belfast up to fifth place in the ranking of most expensive towns and cities in our sample, overtaking Edinburgh and Cambridge.

“But St Albans is still the most expensive town to buy a house in the UK. The average price is £347,563 – over £40,000 higher than in Belfast and just over £8,000 more than its closest rival, Oxford.”