IT IS enough to make your eyes water.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, house prices in the city have gone up 627 per cent in just over two decades.

That makes Brighton and Hove the second most expensive city in the UK, with a growth rate to rival the capital.

The average house price weighs in at £350,000.

A survey commissioned by London estate agents Keatons ranked the city second in a list of the country’s 40 biggest.

But that only tells half the story, with the percentage increase in Brighton and Hove dwarfing that in most other urban centres since 1995.

All but 11 cities nationwide failed to see an appreciation in value amounting to even half of the increases seen on the South Coast.

Estate agents Fox and Sons, which has three branches here, has just agreed a city record price for an undisclosed property. It would not reveal the figure while the deal is still being finalised.

Dominic Ruzyllo, branch partner at the Western Road arm, put sharply rising demand down to the proximity to London.

A national newspaper revealed last month that some 5,000 people had moved from London to Brighton in 2016, second only to Birmingham.

Mr Ruzyllo told The Argus: “The London market is a heavy influence.

“But the profile of our first-time buyers is generally mid-twenties to late thirties.”

Unchecked house prices have given rise to the moniker “generation rent” to describe prospective homeowners struggling to get a foot on the housing ladder.

But Mr Ruzyllo dispelled any fears the city would be saddled with similar problems.

“It’s a very attractive place to live,” he said.

“We’re extremely busy at the moment. I would be careful with the word ‘boom’, because Brighton has always been a popular seaside resort ever since the Pavilion was built in the 1820s.

“The market doesn’t tend to have too many downs here.”

He said a one-bedroom flat might have fetched £30,000 in 1995 but would probably command a figure of more than £200,000 now.

The Marina Village has been in the thick of the building work in recent years. Now Hove is getting in on the act, with a seven-storey apartment block due to be unveiled in Davigdor Road next Saturday.

Real estate website Rightmove shows 137 houses across Brighton and Hove topping the £1 million mark, including 86 within Brighton itself.

A stand-out example is a five-bedroom mansion in Goldstone Crescent, near the retail park once occupied by the Albion – yours for £2,595,000.