Owners of country manor houses saw the average price of their properties soar by £7,126 a month during the second half of 2005, figures showed yesterday.

And some of it is being fuelled by wealthy Brummies.

Estate agent Knight Frank said the market for prime country homes had taken off during the past six months as a result of August's interest rate cut and talk of bumper City bonuses.

The recovery was under-pinned by significant demand for rural properties from people in London, as well as those in big regional cities, it claimed.

The group added that the market had failed to experience its traditional seasonal slowdown, with the number of viewings during the final three months of the year around two-thirds higher than they had been during the same period of 2004.

It added that the recent spurt meant the money wiped off the value of country homes during 2004 and early 2005 had now been recouped.

Overall Knight Frank said the average country home, which includes manor houses, farm houses and cottages, ended the year 2.5 per cent more expensive.

Liam Bailey, Knight Frank's head of residential research, said there was also a shift in confidence when people realised interest rates had peaked and the house price crash that had been predicted by some commentators had failed to materialise.

People with manor houses saw the biggest price rises, with these properties increasing by 3.5 per cent during the year to average £2.6 million by the end of December.

During the final six months of the year the cost of a typical manor house rose by an average of £42,755.

Farm houses saw their prices rise by 2.9 per cent during the year, with market for these properties also taking off during the second half of 2005 when prices rose by an average of £2,912 a month.

Mr Bailey said the strong performance of the market in recent months underpinned its forecast that prices on prime country properties would increase by an average of four per cent this year.