Out of all the market towns in England, house prices in Beaconsfield are the most expensive.

According to the latest research by Lloyds Bank the average cost for a home in Beaconsfield last year was £1,098,060 - 162 per cent above the £418,483 norm in other parts of the county.

The price gap between buying a home in South Bucks’ hottest hotspot and the equivalent anywhere else in Bucks amounted to £675,577.

Price inflation in Bucks over the past the past ten years is high but not as high as in Faversham in Kent.

There you could expect to pay an average of £187,835 for a home in 2009. Last year the typical price was £342,365, a hike of 82 per cent over the decade.

In the ten year rankings, Beaconsfield ties for second place. The rise of 78 per cent is the same as for Stamford in Lincolnshire except the actual prices for homebuyers don’t bear comparison.

In the South Bucks town the average cost of a house in 2009 was £617,989. In Stamford it was £213,756. The latest figure there was £380,036. Here it was over a million.

In the list of most expensive market towns, Henley came second.

Properties in the regatta town world famous for the annual boat race carry a premium of 97 per cent - an extra £399,203 - compared with the average for a place anywhere else in Oxfordshire.

Lloyds’s mortgage director Andrew Mason says the buzz on market days is a lifestyle enhancer but it comes at the cost of pushing up house prices.

Estate agent Chris Moorhouse at Savills office in Beaconsfield Old Town maintains the main attraction for homebuyers from out of the area “is the train service to London reaching Marylebone in just 23 minutes”.

He added: “Another factor is the proximity of the M40 junction with the M25 and Heathrow Airport.

“The school system is also very strong with an unprecedented selection of private schools and highly rated state schools.

“The old town is very picturesque which adds to Beaconsfield’s charm but just as significant is the growth of the new town which has seen development protected to encourage homes of only the highest quality. Add to this the fact you are surrounded by the Chiltern countryside and several picturesque villages with great amenities and there you have it.

“This is why properties of a certain quality in Beaconsfield will always command a premium price.”

Next week another market town in Bucks will be attracting visitors from far and wide. Around 230 delegates are due to attend Wednesday’s annual Five Counties Conference organised by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors at Wycombe Swan theatre in Wycombe town centre.

This year’s event is sponsored by Gerrards Cross law firm B P Collins.

One familiar face from the 3cpd organising team won’t be there. Guy Pullen has moved to Wales. His successor is Emily Mattia.

This year’s list of speakers includes Sean O’Neill, a fraud and cyber security adviser, former Watford MP Richard Harrington and Karen Fitzgerald of Greenpeace.

After lunch, the conference traditionally splits into separate programmes: one for surveyors mainly interested in the residential market, another for those chiefly concerned with the commercial sector.

The afternoon residential session will be wound up by BP Collins’ solicitor Elliott Brookes. As a property dispute lawyer, his main topic for debate will be the current rise in business transactions which fail to complete and how clients can protect themselves from the fall out.