HOUSE prices in Oxford have gone up more than four times the rate of other parts of the South East, it has been revealed.

Property website Rightmove’s latest house price index reveals that buying a home in Oxford is far more expensive than elsewhere in the region, with an average property price of £354,976, compared with £244,707 nationally.

The average price in London is now £496,298.

Rightmove said prices in Oxford had risen 4.6 per cent in the last year, compared to 1.1 per cent across the region.

Joe Brayne, 27, a negotiator at Oxford-based lettings agent Martin & Co, has started looking to buy a home recently but has been put off by the cost.

He said: “It’s difficult to save for a deposit and I think the Government scheme will make it easier for first-time buyers like myself.”

Last month Chancellor George Osborne unveiled Help to Buy measures which he told Parliament were designed to boost home ownership and the house-building industry.

Under the Help to Buy equity loan scheme, the Government will loan house buyers up to 20 per cent of the value of a new-build home.

The scheme is open to those aiming to move up the housing ladder, as well as first-time buyers, It can be used for purchases of up to £600,000, with no cap on earnings for eligibility.

But some agents are predicting that the scheme could create a property “bubble” in Oxfordshire where, according to the Land Registry, the average price of a home is already £244,893, compared with £237,181 last year.

One agent, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s a double-edged sword. If the Government is saying it will shore the market up by 20 per cent, you could say they are artificially inflating it.

“It’s a very dangerous position to be increasing lending to what might be described as the sub-prime sector.

“It’s the same thing as the Bank of England printing more money.”

Other property agents in the city were split on the possible effects of the Government intervention.

John Callow, of S&C Sales and Lettings, in Oxford Road, Cowley, said: “The scheme is causing a lot of interest from first-time buyers and we’re getting a lot of inquiries, but I’m not sure whether that’s being transferred into real sales.”

He said his agency covered the east of the city, where few new homes were being built at present.

“It might have more effect in towns like Didcot and Bicester, where there are a lot of new homes,” he added.

But Ronnie van der Ploeg, of Savills estate agents, said the housing market in the county, particularly in Oxford, was already healthy without the need for further stimulation.

He said: “At the moment the Oxford city market is resilient and we are expecting the village market to catch up, now the good weather is here.

“Buyers do not base their decision to move on what they hear in the Budget but then Oxford purchasing activity levels are already very high.”

Agents said that there were property hotspots all over the city, not just in north central Oxford and Jericho, notably Cumnor Hill, Yarnells Hill, Boars Hill, Old Marston, Iffley Fields and the Divinity Road area.

Damian Gray, of Summertown agent Knight Frank, said: “Compared to last year, the number of buyers registering with us has almost doubled and viewings have almost tripled.

“Interest rates are at the lowest level ever and there is a feeling they will only go up, so people want to fix their mortgage rate now while they can.”