HOUSE prices in York have shot up on average by nearly 25 per cent in a year, according to figures issued today by HM Land Registry.

And estate agents in the city say that the demand has been fuelled by massive renewed interest from people working in Leeds who want to move to York.

Where the average price of a home between April and June this year was £84,894, the sale price in the city over the same period last year was £67,920 - an increase of 24.99 per cent, claims the Land Registry.

The organisation representing estate agents in York disputes these figures suggesting that the increase has been in the order of 20 per cent but claims that the boom, which began before last Christmas, has been fuelled by new demand from people who work in Leeds.

Martin Grayshon, secretary of the York and district Association of Auctioneers, Valuers and Estate Agents said: "The new M1 link road has made York more accessible to people working in the hotspots of Leeds and West Yorkshire, who in the past might otherwise have found the journey too time-consuming."

The Land Registry records a steeper rise for York than the average house sale for North Yorkshire which climbed 17.43 per cent from £75,228 between April and June 1999, to £88,343 this comparable quarter.

In York detached houses which fetched £102,502 last year netted £123,169 this time round. Semis at £62,997 then are £74,282 now; terraced homes increased from 59,508 to £70,770; and flats and maisonettes soared from £51,355 to £77,839.

Mr Grayshon, of Stephenson & Son in Colliergate, York, said steep increases were unlikely to threaten the City of York Council's policy of attracting people back to the city centre.

He added: "It may drive prices up in the city centre and militate against a cheap option, but demand will continue. What might change is the type of people who can afford to go there."

The rate of increase for York and North Yorkshire exceeds by far the 9.32 per cent increase for the whole of the Yorkshire and Humberside region in which average home prices rose from £59,780 to £65,354.

But Mr Grayshon predicted that the market would now level off. The Government's abolition of Miras tax relief plus three increases in interest rates had "brought people to their senses", though prices for larger, more expensive properties would increase, he said.