The average house price in every town in the UK has topped £100,000 for the first time, research revealed this week.

Mortgage lender Halifax reported this week that the average house price in the former mining town of Lochgelly, Fife – previously the only town with an average house price below £100,000 – had risen to £104,738.

According to the research, the biggest rises over the past year occurred in Northern Ireland. Craigavon in Co Armagh and Newtownards in Co Down both saw rises of 55% in the past year.

In England it appears that the north-south divide has re-emerged, with London, the South-west and the South-east experiencing more rapid price rises than towns in northern England.