Numbers have been put on the huge north-south chasm in the housing market, with the figures confirming there is no national boom.

The so-called national recovery is being entirely masked by increases in the south – which are disguising drops in Wales and virtually every single county north of the midlands.

However, asking prices are also down in Cornwall and – by nearly 11% –on the Isle of Wight.

According to Rightmove this morning, national average asking prices are now 8.2% higher than the May 2008 peak.

However, the reality is that asking prices in all parts of London are up by at least 30% – and down by an average of 6% in the north.

In central London and the City, the average asking price has risen by nearly 42% – or almost £500,000 – since May 2008, to stand at over £1.5m.

In comparison, asking prices in County Durham are 13.4% down on their peak, to £114,554.

Outside London, the hotspot is Cambridgeshire, where asking prices are up nearly 42% on peak. Asking prices in Surrey and Berkshire are up 16%, but right across the north – with the exception of Cheshire and North Yorkshire – asking prices are below their peak.

In May 2008, national new seller asking prices peaked at £242,500 – compared with this month’s figure of £262,401.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: “The property price picture is full of geographic ups and downs.”

The data shows that seven of the top ten housing boom areas are all in London. The remaining three are Cambridgeshire, Berkshire and Surrey.

The ten places where asking prices are still well below peak are: Country Durham (down 13.4%), Isle of Wight (down 10.7%), West Yorkshire, Teeside, Lancashire and Merseyside (all down by around 9%), East Riding of Yorkshire (down 8,4%), North and Mid Wales (down 6.9%), Tyne and Wear (down 6.7%) and Greater Manchester (down 6.1%).

Asking prices are also down in: South Yorkshire (5.5%), Staffordshire and Shropshire (4.4%), Cumbria and Northumberland (3.4%), North Lincolnshire (3.1%) and South Lincolnshire (2.7%), Cornwall (2.5%), South Wales (1.9%), Nottinghamshire (1.4%), Birmingham (1.3%), West Midlands (1.2%) and Derbyshire (0.8%).