HOUSE asking prices in the South have reached more than double those in the North, creating a record divide, a report from Rightmove found today.

Southerners are typically putting their homes on the market for £336,743, compared with £164,347 in the Northern regions, sparking fears that a “two-tier twist” could be hampering more widespread growth in the market.

The £170,000 chasm is the largest in monetary terms since Rightmove’s records began in 2002.

The monthly index revealed an overall 2.8% increase in asking prices, a jump of £6,533 from mid- September to reach £239,672 in mid-October.

But this rise was driven by the South, including London, the South East, the South West and East Anglia, which experienced a 4.7% upsurge overall.

Meanwhile, the North, which for the purposes of the survey included the North of England, Wales, the West Midlands, East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside, fell back by 0.7% in the space of a month, to levels first achieved more than six years ago, in May, 2005.

Properties in some of the South regions came onto the market at an all-time high. In London, the typical price was £450,210 – a figure 2.6% higher than a previous record set in June.