Scotland and the North of England have been the most successful regions for prime properties (the top 25% of the market by price) during 2011, according to the latest Prime Index from property website PrimeLocation.com.

Prices in these regions have all increased by more than 6% since January, with Scotland the best performing region, with the average prime property gaining over £25,000, which equates to over £3,000 a month. Asking prices in the region rose by 6.8% to take the typical asking price to £410,530.

Behind Scotland, the North West and the North East were the second fastest rising regions, where asking prices for prime properties have increased by 6.1%. In the North West, this translates to a gain of £20,341, and a current asking price of £355,248, while in the North East the average prime asking price is £323,333, representing an increase of £18,523.

Across the UK, asking prices for prime property have increased by an average of £15,934 over the first eight months of the year, translating into a monthly gain of almost £2,000 per month. The average prime property has gained 3.5% in value, and currently has an asking price of £470,210. For comparison, the average asking price across all UK properties is currently £220,362, some 2.0% higher than at the start of the year.

Nigel Lewis, property analyst at PrimeLocation.com, said: “As is usually the case