The price of a house in towns including Ipswich and Colchester has shot up at a faster rate than elsewhere, research suggests.

Between March 2020 and March 2021 the average price tag on a home in Ipswich soared by £15,830 to reach £207,519, according to an estate agent which analysed property market data across 15 historic towns and cities and 15 recently-created ones.

The 8.3% rise in Ipswich was even higher in percentage terms than that of Colchester, which saw its average house prices soar by 6.8% - or a £17,435 increase, said study authors Barrows and Forrester.

In March 2020, house prices in Ipswich stood at an average of £191,689 and in Colchester they were £258,158. The same properties this year would put house-buyers back £207,519 and £275,593 respectively.

Norwich saw a smaller increase of 3.1% or £6,316, taking its average homes from £206,321 to £212,636.

Overall, the the average property price across the 15 historic towns - which included Durham, Oxford, Exeter and Bath - climbed by 9.4% in the last year, putting the average house price currently at £251,841, the study found.

In contrast, the 15 towns in the study saw average annual growth of just 5.1%, but with an average price of £269,179 buying in a ‘new’ town was already dearer than across the historic property market.

The new towns in the survey included Runcorn (14%), Warrington (9.8%) and Telford (9%) - all of which performed well above the average. But others such as Welwyn Garden City saw prices remain almost static at 0.1% and Crawley also seeing a very low level of annual growth (0.5%).

Barrows and Forrester boss James Forrester said: “We’re incredibly lucky to live in a country that’s steeped in such a rich history and as a result, we have some beautiful historic towns and cities in all areas of the property market.

"There are also plenty that have been formed fairly recently due to a sharp uplift in the population and the requirement for more homes and it’s interesting to see how the two differ where property values are concerned.

"Of course newer towns, with newer housing stock are likely to command a higher price in general, but our research shows that historic towns have been largely preferred over the last year, at least, with house prices climbing at a far greater rate.”