Despite repeated interest rate rises, the spiralling costs of buying and selling a home and continuing predictions of a slowdown, or even crash, in the market, house prices continue to soar.

In Oxfordshire they are outstripping the national average - rising by 9.5 per cent in the last year and by a staggering 84 per cent in the past seven years, according to the Land Registry.

The average property in the county now costs £241,582 - almost £21,000 more than a year ago.

Experts say there is no end in sight for the property boom - good news for existing home owners but more misery for those looking to get their first foot on the housing ladder.

Harriet Gascoigne-Pees, senior negotiator with estate agents Kemp & Kemp, believes more people are coming to Oxford out of London while others are moving out of the city to west Oxfordshire.

She said: "A lot of people have been waiting in rented accommodation for the market to slow down, but have given up and have bought properties.

"More people are commuting to London now and living in Oxford because property is much cheaper here.

"And we are picking up a lot more interest in the Witney area as there are good links to the schools, and prices are cheaper still."

Stewart Lilly, Harwell-based president of the National Association of Estate Agents, said the main reason for rising prices was high demand and insufficient supply. He put this down to planning restrictions and other factors such as the influx of migrant workers - 11,000 Poles alone have moved to Oxfordshire in the last two years.