ALMOST half the homes in Dorset are likely to have 'earned' more than their owners in the past year, according to a property website.

The research by Zoopla revealed that the equivalent of 4.6 million properties across Britain, or more than a fifth of all homes, have risen in value by more than the average wage over the past 12 months.

Dorset, according to Zoopla, saw 47 per cent of home price rises outstrip local average salaries.

Grainne Gilmore, head of research at Zoopla, said the search for space and the stamp duty holiday have boosted demand.

She added: "There has been strong demand from home buyers since the housing market reopened after the first lockdown in May last year.

"This demand has been underpinned by people searching for more space, making a lifestyle change or climbing onto the first rung of the property ladder.

"Hundreds of thousands of households have made the move into their new home over the last year, but activity has been so high it has eroded the stock of homes for sale, which has put upward pressure on house prices, with values rising by up to nine per cent in some parts of the country.

“When this price rise is translated into pounds and pence, it means one in five homes have risen in value by more than the equivalent of a year’s earnings over the space of 12 months."

In some parts of the country, more than half of homes have increased in value by more than the average local wage, Zoopla said.

Homes in the south-west of England are most likely to be earning more than the average salary in the region, according to the research.

In the past 12 months alone, 29 per cent of homes in the region increased in value by more than the average regional salary.

Here are the top 10 hotspots in Britain where house price growth is more likely to have outperformed the annual local wage, according to Zoopla, with the proportion of homes that have increased in value by more than average salary in the area in the past 12 months:

1. Hastings, 62 per cent

2. Adur, 60 per cent

3. Mole Valley, 54 per cent

4. Rother, 51 per cent

5. Dorset, 47 per cent

=6. St Albans, 46 per cent

=6. Cotswolds, 46 per cent

=8. Sevenoaks, 45 per cent

=8. Bromley, 45 per cent

=8. South Lakeland, 45 per cent