London's slowdown is affecting the rest of England

Many counties have also reported price falls, with estate agents reporting problems selling properties for more than �3m, according to Country Life.

The magazine, which analysed properties advertised in its columns during the first six months of 2003, said there had been a 22% fall in the number of homes put on the market in Surrey compared with the same period last year.

In Berkshire there was a 26% drop and a 21% decline in Oxfordshire.

Some properties sold for considerably more than their guide price as a result of bidding wars among the rich for "trophy houses" Penny Churchill Property correspondent

But Wiltshire bucked the trend with a 17% increase: with 152 homes advertised in the magazine, it was the busiest region in the country.

Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire all also reported increases in activity, with Derbyshire seeing a five-fold rise in the number of properties advertised, totalling 36.

'Price fall'

Penny Churchill, property correspondent at Country Life, said: "Stagnation in the London market is having a profound effect on the rural housing scene."

The rural property market was being dominated by the very rich and local buyers in regions where the economy was less influenced by what happened in the City, she added.

"Some properties sold for considerably more than their guide price as a result of bidding wars among the rich for "trophy houses".

"But on the other hand, some delightful country houses in the Home Counties remain unsold, despite months of marketing effort, and prices have started to fall back towards the levels of two years ago," she added.