Cambridge has recorded the largest increase in median house price over the past five years, new figures show.
According to the Office for National Statistics, house prices in Cambridge rose 47% between 2010 and 2015. The city was followed by London at 38% and Crawley in West Sussex with 37%.
The ONS analysed data from the Land Registry for 112 towns and cities in England and Wales.
There were no towns and cities in Wales or the North or Midlands regions of England for which the median house price increased by more than 20%, with the largest increase being 18.4% in South Shields.
The smallest increase in median house price in the south of England was 8.6% in Weston-Super-Mare.
Swansea and Southport have both experienced the biggest house price falls, with a decline of £5,000 over the same period.
The findings revealed that property prices in St Albans are now higher than in London.
The average price of a property in St Albans is £390,000, compared to £380,000 in the capital. Next was Cambridge at £360,000, Guildford at £252,000, Woking at £329,975, Oxford at £327,000, Brighton and Hove at £295,000, Watford at £290,000, Bath at £285,000 and Bracknell at £270,000.
The data highlighted a North-South divide. In the south of England, 29 out of 45 towns and cities had a median house price greater than £200,000, compared with only three out of 64 towns and cities in the North and Midlands.
