During the last recession, there were five areas that actually saw house prices increase, according to Benham and Reeves.

But only five.

The estate agent looked at house price growth between April of 2008 to June 2009 and found that overall, prices across the UK fell by -12.9%.

And with the UK recently ‘tipped into the largest recession on record’, according to the Office for National Statistics, some buyers might be worried about looming price falls.

But where were the property hotspots last time?

Highest risers

In the Orkney Islands, property prices jumped 21.7%, while in the Western Isles they spiked by 18.4%.

On the mainland, Powys in Wales saw an increase of 3.1%, while Moray and the Scottish Highlands saw increases of 2.7% and 1.4% respectively.

Smallest falls

Scotland and Wales accounted for the majority of areas to see marginal declines in house prices during the last recession. Ceredigion (-0.3%) was largely unaffected, along with Fife (-1.9%), Aberdeenshire (-2.7%), Stirling (-2.9%), Dumfries and Galloway (-3.1%), Midlothian (-3.1%) and the Scottish Borders (-3.4%).

South Lakeland (-3.6%) and Allerdale (-3.7%) were the least impacted areas of the English market, along with the Derbyshire Dales (-4.1%), Middlesbrough (-4.4%) and Chorley (-4.5%).

Westminster was the area of London to fare best with a drop of -5%, with Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth and the City of London also seeing prices fall by less than 10%.

However, some areas were very hard hit.

Biggest losers

Northern Ireland was hit the hardest during the last recession with a decline in average house prices of -23.9%, while regionally the East of England saw a drop of -14%, with London down by -13.8%.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, said: “News of a recession will no doubt bring another wave of doom and gloom from house price profits but that simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground and with such a tidal wave of activity returning, it’s unlikely to materialise for many many months, if at all.

“Of course, homebuyers would be forgiven for thinking twice given the recent figures from the Office for National Statistics, but as our research shows, a recession doesn’t necessarily mean a cataclysmic decline in property prices.

“In fact, some areas weathered the last recession pretty well considering the wider economic picture and the vast majority of areas saw a quick recovery in property prices in the years that followed.”