Rural property prices have nearly doubled during the past decade, rising by around £200 a week - apart from in the West Midlands.
The average cost of a home in the countryside in Britain has increased by 96 per cent or £102,722 since 2000, according to Halifax.
The group said the increase was marginally ahead of the 91 per cent rise in house prices in urban areas seen during the same period.
As a result, buyers can expect to pay a 20 per cent premium for a property in a rural location, compared with one in a town, up from a 17 per cent difference at the start of the decade.
The South-east has seen the biggest increase in rural house prices during the past year, with the cost of a home in the countryside jumping by 8.9 per cent, but the region saw the smallest price rise over 10 years at 69 per cent.
The biggest price gains for rural homes over the past decade were made in Yorkshire and the Humber and Wales, at 123 per cent and 122 per cent respectively.
The West Midlands was the only area to record price falls during the past year, with the cost of a typical countryside home dropping by 1.2 per cent.
South Oxfordshire is the most expensive rural local authority in which to buy a home, with the average property costing £388,326, 85 per cent above the average for a countryside property across Britain, while East Ayrshire in Scotland has the cheapest properties at an average of £107,515.
The recent housing market downturn also had less impact on homes in the countryside, with these losing an average of 20 per cent of their value between 2007 and 2009, compared with a 25 per cent price drop in towns and cities.
But price rises for urban property have slightly outstripped gains for rural homes during the past year, with the cost of a home in the countryside rising by just 4 per cent since the end of 2009, while urban property values have risen by 5 per cent.
Unsurprisingly, given the near doubling in rural house prices seen during the past decade, the affordability of property in the countryside has deteriorated significantly.
The typical rural home now costs 6.4 times average annual earnings, up from a house prices to earnings ration of 4.6 in 2000, but down on the peak of 8.2 reached in 2007.
Rural housing is also less affordable than homes in urban areas, which cost an average of 5.4 times average earnings.
There are significantly fewer first-time buyers in the countryside than in urban areas, with just 27 per cent of sales going to people buying their first home, compared with 45 per cent in towns and cities.
There is also slightly less social housing, with this accounting for just 13 per cent of all homes in the countryside, compared with 19 per cent in urban areas.
Suren Thiru, housing economist at Halifax, said: “With the lifestyle benefits associated with living in the countryside still resonating with homebuyers, rural properties continue to trade at a significant premium to homes in urban areas.
“However, as a consequence of rising property prices and generally lower average earnings, the housing market in rural areas has become more challenging over the past decade, particularly for those looking to get on the property ladder.”
