HOUSE prices in the Ribble Valley have bucked the county-wide trend and soared by 17.1 per cent in the last quarter.

Official figures from the Land Registry also reveal that Blackburn with Darwen has been hit hardest with a fall of 11.2 per cent in quarter year to March 31.

East Lancashire estate agents said they were shocked by the figures which compared to a county-wide decline of 5.5 per cent during this period.

According to the stats, the average house in the Ribble Valley now costs £265,381, with homes in Blackburn with Darwen setting buyers back an average of £110,603.

Houses in Burnley are the chepeast on average at £94,608, a fall of 6.2 per cent, Hyndburn down 4.1 per cent to £105,802, Pendle a drop of 2.8 per cent to £113,908 and Rossendale down 7.3 per cent to £132,125.

Experts nationwide have for months been predicting massive falls in property prices as the credit crunch takes hold.

But the Ribble Valley's selling points of beautiful countryside and good schools seem to be maintaining a high-level of demand and continuing to push up the borough's prices.

Estate agent Janet Helme, of Purple Willow, Church Street, Clitheroe, said it was clear that the Ribble Valley had not been hit as hard as other areas in the recent housing market slump.

She said: "People have been achieving their asking prices, but not in all incidents.

"You do see there are lots of properties with new prices on them but generally prices in the borough are not dropping. Such a big increase does surprise me though."

The Land Registry figures show that Ribble Valley has seen an annual increase of 20.7 per cent and Blackburn with Darwen, despite its last quarter drop, has seen a three per cent rise.

Kerry Hamer, of Athertons, Sudell Cross, Blackburn, believed there had not been as large a drop as the new figures suggested.

She added: "The amount of homes we are selling has reduced but the price fall is not something we have really experienced.

"The current slump in selling houses is going to continue. The market has been saturated and things will remain tough until the first time buyers come back in to the market."

Blackburn with Darwen council leader, Colin Rigby, said low prices in the borough had always mirrored the trend in wages.

He said: "It goes hand in hand with salaries which are lower than the area average which limits the price rises in the borough.

"The difficulty is going to be for the people who have taken out big mortgages and we could end in the position we were 20-years-ago with people in negative equity."