HOUSE prices in Ealing rose more than anywhere else in London last month.

The fractional 0.2 per cent lift put the borough at the top of the Hometrack table for October. It was one of only three places in the capital which showed an increase. The others were Westminster and Redbridge.

The weighted overall average price paid by buyers in the Ealing area was £278,400. Flats and maisonettes averaged £186,300, the typical terraced home was sold for £242,400, semis were £288,200 and punters paid an average of £461,000 for detached houses.

The survey revealed a "huge surge" in transactions in the capital during the past four weeks. The number of sales leapt eight per cent bringing the total increase over the last three months to 18.2 per cent. The researchers commented: "This can be directly attributed to an increase of 4.4 per cent in the number of buyers registered. Meanwhile the number of properties listed increased by 1.2 per cent. "

It's still a buyer's market. Sales are being agreed for an average of 93.3 per cent of the asking price across the capital. "Although higher than this year's low in January of 91.8 per cent when buyers were negotiating discounts of 8.2 per cent, it is still considerably lower than the peak of 95.4 per cent in April 2004," reported the analysts.

The length of time to sell was marginally less an average of 6.2 weeks after 14 viewings compared with 6.3 weeks and virtually the same number of viewings in September.