House prices across Britain doubled in the first decade of the 21st century, despite seven successive quarters of falling prices between 2007 and 2009, new figures from Halifax reveal.

Britain's biggest lender says average house prices rose from £81,596 at the end of 1999 to £167,020 at the end of 2009 - despite the 21 per cent decline which began in the third quarter of 2007.

However, the speculative nature of the boom is revealed by the fact that the 10 towns showing the fastest price growth are on, or close to, the coast.

This suggests prices were driven by newcomers jumping onto the bandwagon rather than rising wealth levels among permanent residents.

Redruth in Cornwall topped the risers with a 207 per cent surge to £182,200, with Penzance (up 188 per cent to £204,500) in second place.

They were followed by Ramsgate (up 181 per cent to £168,300) and Helston, Cornwall (up 174 per cent to £230,270).

Fastest rising regions were Yorkshire and the Humber (up 130 per cent to £127,900); Wales (up 122 per cent to £137,316); the north (up 120 per cent to £123,800); North West (up 112 per cent to £128,500) and East Anglia (up 111 per cent to £163,300).

By contrast, the South East rose by only 83 per cent and Greater London by 80 per cent.

The Halifax says the decade saw bigger rises in house prices than any other decade in the past half century, and that most towns which experienced the strongest price growth began the decade with lower than average prices.

"Seaside towns fared particularly well as the attraction of having a home on the coast helped to boost demand," it said.

In many cases, however, these house price booms haven't been accompanied by evidence of local economic revival.

The big question now is whether all the newcomers in Britain's coastal towns stay put to earn rental income from the boom in staycation holidays within the UK, or will they cash in their chips and look around for the next property market bandwagon?

• Where prices have risen the most in the last 10 years 1 Redruth, Cornwall up 207% 2 Penzance, Cornwall up 188% 3 Ramsgate up 181% 4 Helston, Cornwall up 174% 5 Wallasey, Merseyside up 172% 6 Exeter up 168% 7 Wallsend, Tyne and Wear up 164% 8 Barry, Wales up 161% 9 Great Yarmouth up 161% 10 Southend-on-Sea up 160%