IF YOU’RE looking to invest in bricks and mortar over the next few years then Southampton is one of the country’s hot spots, according to figures released today.

House price growth in the south-east is set to surge faster than in London in the coming years as buyers spread their search outside the capital, a property website predicts.

And over the next five years property prices in the city could top as much as 40 per cent, says the company Rightmove.

The firm tipped Southampton, along with Luton and Brighton, as the “country’s best property bets” after seeing signs of the ripple effect of househunters who have been priced out of London.

Its latest data found that sellers’ asking prices across England and Wales edged up by 2.6 per cent month-on-month in October to reach £271,669 on average, which is the lowest monthly rise seen at this time of year for six years.

Rightmove said buyers are becoming “more wary and value conscious”, against a background of interest rate rises expected in 2015, a looming general election, and property prices having already increased strongly in many areas, particularly London.

Some sellers may find that their asking prices are too optimistic, although there are “few signs” of the market slowing in the south-east, which is now the strongest-performing region across England and Wales over the last 12 months, it said.

Asking prices in the south-east have lifted by ten per cent over the last year to reach £355,874 on average.

Those in London, which has, until recently, been seen as the engine of price growth, have increased by 9.6 per cent over the past 12 months to reach £596,692.

Analysis by Rightmove and Oxford Economics forecasts that the south-east will be the region with the highest increase in property values over the next five years, with a 37 per cent increase over the period, ahead of London at 33 per cent and the national average at 30 per cent.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: “Those looking for price appreciation in the country should seriously consider the south-east, and some may wish to fine-tune their search to the three top locations of Southampton, Brighton and Luton.”

He said price increases in all three of these areas are predicted to top 40 per cent over the coming five years.

Gains in these areas are due to a “price overspill” coming from neighbouring areas as well as their good links to London, he said.

Every region across England and Wales has seen asking price growth over the past 12 months, from the south-east’s ten per cent rise to a 2.6 per cent uplift recorded in the north-west, where the typical asking price is £168,751.