North best for seaside homes

The Halifax Estate Agents Seaside Town Review tracks housing affordability in 96 seaside towns across England and Wales. Whitehaven in Cumbria is the most affordable seaside town based on the average house price to earnings ratio in 2009 quarter one; followed by Withernsea on the East Yorkshire coast and Maryport in Cumbria.

The least affordable seaside towns are in the South West, with Sandbanks in Dorset recording the highest house price to earnings ratio; Sandbanks is also the most expensive seaside town for housing in England and Wales.

Pwllheli saw the largest increase in house prices during the eight years between March 2001 and March 2009. The average house price in this Welsh seaside town increased by 206%, from £70,970 to £217,253. The next biggest increases were in Rock in Cornwall (200%) and Maryport in Cumbria (177%).

Nearly nine-tenths of the seaside towns surveyed have seen average house prices grow by over 100% in the past eight years. The average house price in all seaside towns has increased by 115% since 2001. This is higher than the 96% rise in house prices across England and Wales as a whole, highlighting the popularity of seaside towns amongst homebuyers.