ASKING prices for prime properties – the top quarter of the market by value – dipped 0.5 per cent in January, ending a nine-month rally in which asking prices reached new heights, according to PrimeLocation.com.

Despite prices dipping in December, the average asking price for a prime property in the UK is now four per cent higher (£19,097) than last January, at £473,373.

In comparison, asking prices for the UK property market as a whole have increased by just £2,471 (one per cent) over the same period, with the average asking price now £218,468.

Nearly a quarter of children living in British homes are forced to share a bedroom, according to a survey by FindaProperty.com.

According to the findings, 29 per cent of parents think their current home is too small to accommodate the size of their family, rising to 40 per cent for younger families where parents are aged 18 – 34. FindaProperty.com released the findings to coincide with the launch of its new TV advertisements, the first of which uses a rapping dad-to-be to highlight the issue of household overcrowding.

Sam Faiers, one of the blonde stars of The Only Way Is Essex, has beaten the average age of a first-time buyer by 12 years to buy her first home at 21. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) says the average age of an unassisted first-time buyer in the UK is now 33.

Faiers, a former glamour model who is one of the flashy cast of the hit reality TV show, reportedly splashed out £400,000 for the three bedroom home close to the fashion boutique she has opened with her sisters, mother and aunt in Brentwood.

Those growing up in London have an 80 per cent greater chance of finding fame than those brought up in any other town, according to new analysis by FindaProperty.com.

The study looked at where Britain's top celebrities grew up and highlights certain areas of the UK that act as hotspots for breeding celebrity success.

Other regions with a high concentration of celebs include the North West, Wales and Scotland.