Contrary to the recent performance of the wider housing market, eight of the 10 seaside towns experiencing the biggest house price gains since 2003 are outside southern England.

The report revealed that since 2003, the seaside town that recorded the biggest rise was Porthmadog in Wales where the average house price increased by 134% from £69,479 to £162,638 in 2013.

Seaham (128%) and Newbiggin-by-the-Sea (120%) – both in the North East – saw the next largest rises, and now stand at £104,840 and £81,442.

Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: “Seaside towns are highly popular places to live. They offer a unique lifestyle with a typically high quality of life and a healthy environment and as a result, living by the coast can come at a price.”

The average house price in a seaside town now stands at £197,938. This means that the much sought after life beside the seaside is 17% more affordable when compared to the average house price of £238,091 across England and Wales.

Generally over the past ten years, all ten of the most expensive seaside towns in England and Wales have been on the south coast with eight in the South West.

Salcombe in Devon (£570,378), which sits in the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Sandbanks in Dorset (£552,242) have the highest average prices.

The price performance of seaside towns was slightly below the 70% increase across the whole of England and Wales since 2003.

However, there was a shift in the comparative performance of seaside towns, which outperformed overall prices in England and Wales in the ten years to 2012.

The report also revealed that seaside towns in the south have surpassed those in the north since 2008.

Average prices in the majority of seaside towns in Wales, East Anglia and the South West are higher than the average for their county.

Ellis added: “The majority of seaside towns in Wales, East Anglia and the South West have an average house price that is higher than the surrounding area. This is not always the case though and good value properties can be found in many seaside towns, particularly in the South East and Yorkshire and the Humber.”