RICHMOND remains the fourth most expensive town in the country with the average house costing £349,480, new figures reveal this week.

The figures, from the Halifax show that in the past 20 years prices in Greater London have soared by 456 per cent. Teddington has taken the ninth spot in the top ten most expensive towns, with houses averaging £337, 561.

The survey reveals that despite talk of hotspots and ripple effect the priciest places have remained consistently popular, as eight of the top ten also featured in the same list in 1988, at the peak of the housing boom.

Further figures released this week also reveal that prices are beginning to steady in the borough as prices remained the same throughout January.

The Hometrack monthly survey revealed that the average price in the borough remained at £333,200 during the month, which saw an average fall of 0.1 per cent in the capital.

John Wrigglesworth, Hometrack's housing economist said that despite the falls they were not expecting a crash.

He said: "The London market shows no sign of recovering, having seen average price falls for the past three months.

"While lower value house prices continue to rise, the top end of the market, over £500,00 has seen falls of up to ten per cent within the last six months.

"City job cuts and worries about job prospects within the square mile are the major factors causing the slowdown."

January 31, 2003 10:30