House prices go potty!
On a busy Friday morning in the picturesque town of Helmsley, the square is packed with tweed-clad locals and ramblers.
It's market day, and the stalls are doing a roaring trade in cashmere jumpers, expensive French cheese and stuffed olives.
The shops all have lovely names — the Nice Things Cafe, The Snooty Fox, Thomas the Baker, The Stick Man.
And the independent delis, cafes and jewellers are full of tourists who have come to see Helmsley's stately home and historic castle.
Down: Property prices in the picturesque town of Helmsley in the North York Moors have dropped by 0.4 per cent in the past 12 months
It's everything you'd want in a quintessentially English village nestled on the edge of the North York Moors. But house prices in this area are falling faster than almost anywhere else in Britain.
According to official data, property prices in the Ryedale district have dropped by 0.4 per cent in the past 12 months, compared to an average rise in the UK of 6 per cent.
The only places in England where prices are falling faster are Carlisle, in Cumbria, Middlesbrough, in Teesside, and, surprisingly, Hammersmith and Fulham in affluent West London.
Helmsley is not the only rural beauty spot languishing at the bottom of the property tables.
Price rises are hovering between zero and 2 per cent in Cornwall, South Hams on the south coast of Devon, South Lakeland in the heart of the Lake District, and Ribble Valley — the Lancashire countryside that inspired J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth in Lord Of The Rings.
Even property in the Cotswolds and in West Somerset, which boasts Exmoor National Park, is rising by less than 3 per cent annually — half the national average.
Up: Meanwhile in less glamorous Luton prices have rocketed by 14 per cent
It defies logic that homes in the country's well-to-do market towns set among rolling hills should be stagnant or falling in value.
Even more bizarrely, while prices struggle in Britain's greenest pastures, they're soaring in less fashionable, more industrial towns.
Homes in Luton, Bedfordshire, have risen in value by 14 per cent in the past 12 months — more than double the national average — figures by the Office for National Statistics show.
At times last year, prices were rising at an annual rate of 20 per cent — making Luton the top — and most unlikely — property hotspot in the country.
Towns such as Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, and Bedford, in Bedfordshire, are increasing at 16 per cent a year, while many Essex towns, including Thurrock, Colchester and Southend-on-Sea, are rising by between 12 per cent and 14 per cent.
So, what on earth is going on in the property market?
Back in Helmsley, news that house prices are falling in Ryedale is met with derision. Sandra, 73, who is enjoying a cappuccino with her friend Carole, 72, in the Sugared Butterfly cafe, in Helmsley's town square, says: 'I am afraid I don't believe your 'Government' figures.
'What does London know about what's happening in the North?'
But Carole, who moved from Bradford, West Yorkshire, to Kirby Misperton, near Helmsley, when she retired, is not so sure.
'I think prices have potted in this area,' she says. 'The young people have been priced out by people like us moving here when we retire, and now they can't afford to buy — prices couldn't keep going higher.'
Helmsley has been better insulated from the fall than other Ryedale towns, such as Malton, Pickering and Kirbymoorside. But there are signs that, even in this picture-postcard village, the market is slowing.
Of the 17 properties advertised for sale on website Rightmove, seven have been reduced in price.
Experts say increased taxes on second homeowners and landlords means fewer people are buying properties in tourist havens, pushing down prices.
These areas cannot rely on demand from workers and commuters, so they are experiencing sharper price falls than larger towns and cities.
Since April last year, anyone buying a second home has had to pay an additional 3 per cent stamp duty under reforms introduced by former Chancellor George Osborne.
From this April, another of Mr Osborne's policies will mean landlords can no longer offset their mortgage interest against income tax.
Meanwhile, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors warned this week that 'punitive measures' were pushing some landlords to exit the market altogether.
Anger: Retired accountant Lynne Blair, right, blames incoming fracking companies for the fall in Helmsley property prices
Experts say the tax blow has already affected the Cornish property market, where prices have risen by just 1.9 per cent in 12 months. Investors may have been deterred after some towns in Cornwall made it clear that holiday homeowners were unwelcome.
Last year, residents of St Ives voted in favour of planning laws to reserve new homes for full-time residents, fearing locals were being priced out.
Back in Helmsley, you don't have to look far for evidence of falling demand. On a new housing development behind the main square, nine of 17 pretty stone cottages remain unsold a year after they went on sale.
Two have been bought by a British oil engineer living in Houston, Texas, and his sister, an HR executive living in Santa Barbara, California.
Both were looking for an investment and a place to holiday when they're in the UK.
Charlie Elliot, of local estate agents Croft Residential, says: 'A lot of people use Helmsley as a base for the shooting season and it's very close to York. Higher stamp duty hasn't helped people who want to buy a second home.'
Locals say fracking is also pushing down prices. The controversial form of energy production is due to start in the Ryedale village of Kirby Misperton. It involves drilling into shale rock, then pumping water, sand and chemicals down the well to release gas.
Campaigners claim fracking will lead to earthquakes, increased traffic and even contaminated water supply, causing health problems, damaging their properties and causing the value of their homes to plummet.
With the Friday market in full swing, a group of 50 protesters show up with anti-fracking placards. It is a very middle-class protest of teachers and antiques dealers, holding polite signs that say: 'Fracking? No thanks.'
Among them is retired accountant Lynne Blair, 63. She says: 'This is a tourist destination, but once we all have pipes running between our homes and hundreds of lorries on our small roads, it will be very off-putting.'
Hotspot: Homes in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, are increasing at 16 per cent a year
More than 200 miles away in Luton, it's a different story.
Walking down the original High Street past takeaways, pound shops and boarded-up buildings, its appeal may not be immediately obvious.
But properties here are selling as fast as the town can build them. New apartment buildings are arriving on the skyline and selling within days.
In the town centre, an old office has been converted into a huge block of 119 luxury flats called The Landmark.
The first weekend it went on sale, 105 flats were sold — the rest had gone within four weeks. There are signs of transformation everywhere in Luton — a place that has previously won the title of Britain's worst town.
Around the train station, a cluster of coffee shops and upmarket hair salons have opened. Alongside is a pop-up perfume shop, which doubles as an art exhibition — promising to 'evoke fantasy experiences' in the spirit of Salvador Dali.
An old hat factory is now used for film, comedy and dance performances. A huge sign on the building reads: 'If you can dream it you must do it.'
For Nick Jeffs, a supervisor at trendy Connors Café inside the old Hat Factory, it is a far cry from the Luton he found ten years ago when he arrived as a student at the University of Bedfordshire.
'The student accommodation was horrible — poorly maintained, dodgy landlords,' he says. 'Now, there are new apartment blocks everywhere, and it's really expensive. It's an up-and-coming town for students and young professionals.'
The council has unveiled plans for a £1.5 billion investment programme and Luton Airport is undergoing a £110 million makeover, expanding its routes to destinations such as Stockholm and Vienna.
Sue Yearnshire and her husband Mark have just sold their five-bedroom house in Luton within three weeks of it going on sale for £500,000. They bought it in 1998 for just £111,000.
Done deal: Sue Yearnshire sold her five-bedroom house in Luton within three weeks of it going on sale for £500,000. She bought it in 1998 for just £111,000
The couple are moving to Stotfold, a rural town in Bedfordshire, for the country lifestyle, along with their daughter Emma and her husband.Emma's Luton flat sold within days for £175,000 — almost double the £94,000 she paid for it five years ago.
Sue, 56, who runs an electrical wholesale business, says: 'When we first moved here, there were a lot of garages and units around and people renting.
'Now, most people own their houses. You regularly see BMWs, Mercedes and Range Rovers parked outside.'
Andy and Lisa Hawkins bought their four-bedroom house for £375,000 in 2010 and are selling it for 40 per cent more at £522,000 just seven years later.
Lisa, 31, says: 'It's crazy how much prices have gone up around here, but I think London prices are now so phenomenal and people are realising you can get a lot more by moving a short train journey away.'
In the window of estate agent Venture Residential, a screen flashes up with times for the next train to London St Pancras station, which takes just 23 minutes. The busy estate agents is on a leafy residential road in Leagrave, a suburb of Luton, with its own direct train links to London.
But while houses regularly sell for half-a-million pounds on this street, there are signs that its transformation is not yet complete.
Some of the big, detached houses have up to five CCTV cameras fixed to the outside. Others have multiple signs warning of guard dogs. On a Friday afternoon, two police cars spend an hour dealing with a drunk woman shouting and laid on the ground.
Luton is not alone as a less-fashionable commuter town where house prices are rising.
So-called 'new towns', which were developed after World War II to tackle overcrowding, including Milton Keynes, Welwyn Garden City and Telford, have all risen above the national average in the past decade.
Desirable: So-called 'new towns' including Milton Keynes, (pictured), have all risen above the national average in the past decade
In Stevenage, an underwhelming town of Sixties architecture, prices have soared by 16 per cent in the past 12 months as commuters are attracted by the 20-minute train journey into the capital.
Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, says: 'Many new towns are within easy commuting distance of major commercial centres — where the property is typically more expensive.'
The rise of the less salubrious commuter towns is at odds with slowing house prices in most of the country.
According to Savills, average house prices will flatline this year, with 0 per cent rises in many areas.
The estate agents predicts the biggest falls of 2.5 per cent will be in the North East and Scotland, while the biggest rise will be a modest 2.5 per cent in the East of England. Even in London, which has seen double-digit rises in recent years, prices are expected to stagnate.
Lucian Cook, of Savills, says: 'Buyers priced out of London initially looked to the more costly commuter towns and cities, such as Oxford, Cambridge, Winchester, Beaconsfield and St Albans.
'But after strong price growth in those areas, the reality of what buyers can actually afford pushed them into these lower-value commuter towns.'
The market in Luton is driven by workers who have to move for jobs or when their family expands. But in many affluent rural towns, the market is what agents call 'discretionary'.
It means retired homeowners, holiday homes and investors do not have to move house by necessity.
So, in times of uncertainty — such as now, with Brexit and tax rises on the horizon — demand tails off. Mr Cook says: 'In a discretionary market, these buyers are more likely to stay put.'
Back at the Sugared Butterfly cafe in Helmsley, Sandra, 73, is inclined to agree. The pensioner, who moved from Leeds when she retired, says: 'Well, if prices are falling, we're not bothered. People who move here are here for life.'
l.eccles@dailymail.co.uk