The average cost of a home in the South East rose £140 in the first six months of this year, according to figures from Zoopla, the online agency. 

The 0.03 per cent increase in house prices from the beginning of January to the end of June works out at £5.38 a week - about 77p a day.

Compared with how prices are holding up in other parts of the country, homeowners in the South East can count themselves lucky. 

“Nearly £1,000 has been wiped off the average house price in the UK during the first six months of 2018, equivalent to £5.12 a day,” observed a spokesman for Zoopla.

Typical price for a home in Bucks right now is £443,997. That compares with £422,330 in Berkshire, £431,230 in Oxfordshire, £614,483 in Windsor & Maidenhead and £633,744 for a place in London.

Judged by Zoolpa’s in-house estimated value for each area across the country, buyers in this region are currently paying over the odds in Bucks, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Windsor & Maidenhead.

The firm’s Zed index calculates the average value of a property in Bucks at £408,907 not the inflated £443,997 which is the current going rate. 

And instead of buyers paying an average of £422,330 for a home in Berkshire, the analysts reckon the true value is £409,314.

Oxfordshire’s £431,230 average should be £405,347 and the true average value of a home in Windsor & Maidenhead this month should be £592,904 not £633,744 according to the experts but buyers put their money where their heart is.

There’s no accounting for that.

After looking up the most popular keywords punched into Zoopla’s search engine, the agency’s research team drew up a list of this summer’s top 10 ‘must haves’.

In first place at the top of the list is ‘detached’. Next comes garage, followed by bungalow.

In fourth place is parking, then annexe, then garden. In seventh place is freehold.

Cottage is the eighth most popular in the must-have stakes. From this point on a thought pattern emerges. 

Evidence suggests homebuyers aren’t easily put off when they search the web and get a mental picture of their dream home. In ninth place in the top ten list is acres.

What happens if the longed-for cottage standing in several acres turns out to be too pricey? Do buyers chuck in the towel? Do they heck.

They say to each other ‘let’s see what comes up if we punch in Rural’. Rural is the tenth most popular must-have in the Zoopla ratings, one place behind acres.

Keepers Cottage (pictured) overlooking the lock on the Grand Union Canal at Slapton has six out of the top ten must-haves and a good many others not in the list compiled by Zoopla from the most frequent buzz words entered by hopeful homebuyers in the agency’s search engine.

The former lock-keepers’ three-bedroom cottage is detached, there’s plenty of space to park, it has a delightful garden with panoramic views, it’s freehold and it’s in a rural spot on a single track lane alongside a humpback bridge.

One major advantage for the owners – apart from the position (boaters work the lock themselves now there’s no longer a lock keeper to raise and lower the level of the water) - is the income of around £1,000 a year from selling surplus electricity generated by the photo voltaic and solar thermal panels on the roof to the grid. “Our hot water is free in the summer,” nod the current owners.

Their cottage is immaculate inside and out. The interior layout is what’s known as reverse living. To capitalise on the views, the two reception rooms and kitchen are on the first floor.

The three bedrooms including master suite, main bathroom, the study and a utility area are on the ground floor.

Slapton is three miles from the station at Cheddingon where trains get you into Euston in just under threequarters of an hour. The town centre at Leighton Buzzard is three and a half miles away. 

“Keepers Cottage will certainly realise a dream for someone,” says estate agent Graham Robson, area manager based at Michael Graham’s Aylesbury office where the house is for sale with a £700,000 guide price.