HOUSE price changes in the region saw ups and downs over the last quarter.

While rural North Yorkshire raced ahead with a rise of 2.5pc, urban Teesside dropped a place in the average price league table for the North East.

And County Durham experienced a relatively slow time, although some types of property did manage sizeable increases. In Darlington the market is said to be buoyant.

Homes in North Yorkshire remain the most expensive of ten areas surveyed by Northern Rock.

The average house price has now hit £78,350 after the latest rise - up £6,700 since last April.

North Yorkshire prices are well above average costs for each housing type with four-bedroomed detached homes more than £14,000 above the regional norm.

In Teesside, three housing types saw a price drop - three-bedroomed semis, three-bedroomed terrace and two-bedroom flats.

It was the only area to record no change in overall house prices over 12 months and dropped a place to ninth in the price table.

The average Teesside home now costs £60,050, although four-bedroomed detached houses went up 3.7pc to £108,200.

Durham saw an average rise of 1.3pc.

Three-bedroomed semis fell by 1.6pc, but four-bedroomed detached houses went up by 4.3pc to an average £122,300.

In Darlington, property is selling quickly even in areas where demand has been known to fall away.

Across the ten areas, overall values rose by 1.9pc to give an average price of £66,000.

This compares with a 1.7pc increase for the previous quarter and only a 0.3pc a year earlier.