Surrey 'most expensive' for country house

This former royal house is one of Surrey's finest

A country house will set buyers back more in Surrey than anywhere else in the country, a survey has found.

Research by Country Life magazine found that during 2002, Surrey was the most expensive place to buy a country estate.

The average price of homes in the county advertised in the magazine reached £1.82m, up from £1.8m the year before.

Surrey also had the largest number of properties on sale, with 357 advertised over the year in Country Life.

Stock market

The county was followed by Berkshire, where a luxury home set the buyer back an average £1.65m.

Neighbour Sussex had the third highest number of country properties for sale, with 261 up for grabs.

But prices in the county come in significantly lower, with an average pricetag of £1.29m.

Nationwide, Country Life magazine found that the number of properties put on the market for more than £5m doubled during 2002, rising from 32 to 75.

There was also a rise by almost two-thirds in the number of homes advertised for between £1m and £2m.

Sales of prime properties started to fall in the autumn however, as the stock market failed to recover from falling prices, hitting the wealth of many people in the luxury-home market, said the magazine.