Property values are generally higher in market towns than in their surrounding counties, according to new figures, with prices in the north of England having shown particularly strong growth. Two thirds of these towns have average house prices in excess of those of neighbouring towns, data showed, with Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire boasting by far the highest property values at an average of £704,724, followed by Ringwood in Hampshire. Beaconsfield also has the highest market town to county house price ratio than anywhere else in the country at 144 per cent, while prices are 99 per cent higher in Bakewell than in surrounding Derbyshire and 93 per cent higher in Southwell than in Nottinghamshire.