House prices are continuing to rise steadily across the county despite sales falling by a third.

Analyists today put the slump down to the unaffordability of properties for first-time buyers.

It is hoped the Bank of England's first interest rate cut for two years on Thursday will reheat the market.

Latest figures from the Land Registry compare prices from the second quarter of 2004 and the second quarter of 2005 and show prices have risen in all regions of England and Wales. Average prices are highest in London at £293,349 but Sussex comes second at £223,373.

In Brighton and Hove, the average price of a property rose seven per cent from £203,157 in 2004 to £218,720 in 2005. But sales were down from 1,848 to 1,262.

In East Sussex, the average property price rose by more than five per cent from £193,356 to £204,131 and in West Sussex by almost six per cent from £214,230 to £227,140. Sales in East Sussex dropped from 3,588 to 2,361 and in West Sussex from 5,093 to 3,446.

Chris Oakley, president of the Brighton and Hove Estate Agents Association, said the figures were encouraging for the general market although not for first-time buyers.

He said: "We've got a more steady marketplace than three years ago and people are thinking very carefully about moving home and the associated costs that go with it. But property is still a very good investment.

"The problem is with first-time buyers who are finding it more difficult to save up an adequate deposit to get on to the property ladder. Hopefully, the cut in interest rates last week will help.

"Developers also know it's essential to attract first-time buyers and that is why more micro-flats and shared ownership properties are going on the market."

Glenn Mishon, of estate agent Mishon Mackay in Preston Road, Brighton, said: "The number of transactions have gone down because the market is a lot tougher.

"Agents are having to work much harder and much smarter to keep their figures up. We've not had to work this hard for a good eight or nine years."