By Tony Booth

Halifax Estate Agents have released their latest statistics, which show some startling facts about rising and falling property values in the UK.

While prices in one town in Wales has rocketed by 203 per cent since 2002, three times the UK average - one town in Surrey has only managed a 30 per cent increase over the last five years.

The worst performing regions could be ripe for 'catch-up' in the near future, once property values start climbing again ... which means 2008 is probably one of the best years of opportunity spanning the last decade or more to invest in some UK locations.

'Where there's muck, there's brass' ... and in relation to Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales, this phrase has never been more pertinently applied. The old industrial valley town has been voted one of the top ten worst places to live in the UK by Channel 4 for the last three years.