House prices in Brighton and Hove will skyrocket by more than 40% over the next five years, according to a new report.

The cost of buying a home in the city is set to rise higher than anywhere else in the country according to the newly published report by property website Rightmove and financial forecasters Oxford Economics.

Brighton and Hove’s close proximity to London, which makes the city an attractive commuter destination, is considered the major factor which will see the housing market continue to flourish.

Local estate agents have described the prediction as “bold” and raised concerns about the impact on first-time buyers’ ability to get on the housing ladder without the “bank of mum and dad”.

The report says that Brighton and Hove’s property will outperform both London, predicted to rise by 33%, and the South East region in general which is calculated to increase by 37%, to join Luton and Southampton as the fastest growing markets up to 2019.

Employment rates and population growth are also considered to be major factors in Brighton and Hove’s soaring house prices in the forecast. The research is based on asking and sold prices, surveyor valuations and analytics from the Oxford Economics’ Global, Industry and Regional forecasting models.

Paul Taggart, associate director of Hamptons International in Hove, said: “It’s very difficult to predict but 40% is a very bold prediction. At the moment the housing market has gone up 8-10% this year so what happens to affordability and how do people get on the property ladder if that rise continues?”

Steve Cales, of Portslade estate agents Cales and Co, said: “I think it’s foolhardy to predict so far in advance because global events impact our domestic housing market in a way they never did before.

“It is widely anticipated that the historically low interest rates we have seen over the past five years will go up after the election and that has always impacted on the residential housing market.”