Property prices. They must be one of the top topics of conversation at dinner tables across North Yorkshire as the boom continues - whether you are a homeowner smug about how much your house has grown in value, or a parent worried about how your children are going to be able to afford their own home. Or both.

Today, the Halifax gives new impetus to such debates with the publication of a comprehensive study of property price rises, town by town, across the region.

The picture that emerges is one of huge variations from one town or city to another.

Harrogate is named as the region's hottest property hot-spot, after prices rocketed by 118 per cent over the past decade to an average of £157,079. The Halifax says the rise is comparable to that experienced by many towns in the south-east.

York comes fourth out of 54 towns and cities, with prices having shot up by 96 per cent to £126,894.

Selby came eighth with a 77 per cent increase to £96,643, while Malton came 31st, with a 46 per cent rise to £100,743. Hornsea was bottom of the league with an increase of only five per cent over the decade.

The Halifax warned that the big rises in the hotspots meant owning a home was now beyond the reach of many first-time buyers.

"For example, a first-time buyer in Harrogate needs to earn £29,073 to purchase the average priced first-time buyer property costing £99,460," said group economist Martin Ellis. A first-time buyer in York needed to earn £25,875 to purchase the average priced first-time buyer property costing £88,521, he said. Average earnings in North Yorkshire are £22,308.

The average increase across the region over the decade was 45 per cent, with North Yorkshire seeing the biggest surge - 76 per cent. The East Riding saw the smallest increase - only 28 per cent.

The Halifax said two key regional factors seemed to have influenced prices in North Yorkshire commuter territory - the development of Leeds as a major financial services centre and the construction of the A1/M1 motorway link.

The bank's experts expect further rises in much of the region over the coming 12 months as Yorkshire catches up with the south, where they expect the market to slow down.

However, Yorkshire's hot-spots might also slow down because of difficulties for first-time buyers in acquiring properties.

Asked if there might be another crash like the one in the late 1980s, leaving property owners facing the negative equity nightmare, they say it is not impossible.

But, with interest rates much lower this time round and the economy generally in better shape, as well as much lower unemployment, they don't think it's likely to happen.

Updated: 15:10 Thursday, August 01, 2002