Whether it is a roaring sea, a fast-changing estuary or a calming canal, a glimpse of water still adds a premium to the price of a home, according to new research.

“Even in a slower market, houses with 'something extra’ such as a sea view or a meandering river outside their front door can add to the price an average of 40 per cent,” says Jonathan Haward of the County Homesearch buying agency, which conducted a survey of homes with a view in 24 locations in Britain over the winter.

The research showed that when it comes to water, there is a clear pecking order of premiums. Distant river views attracted premiums of under 10 per cent, but houses in exceptional locations could have over 100 per cent added to their value, as happened with a house in the picturesque fishing village of Cellardyke in Fife. It sold last year for £400,000, yet was almost identical to a home close by, without the views, which was on the market for £195,000.

It’s the same story overseas: in the French Riviera, properties close to the sea can command, on average, 30 per cent more than properties in the same position without a sea view, says Stuart Baldock of Property Vision.

And in times of recession, those properties with sea views will depreciate less than those without. “Buyers are more selective and less prepared to compromise,” says Paddy Dring of Knight Frank.

“The most expensive water views are uninterrupted, but with something else besides water; an island, a town or a coastline perhaps,” says Charles Weston Baker of Savills International. “In Miami there are some apartments that look over the sea and nothing else and that gets boring.”

Sea views are more popular with British people buying homes abroad than lake or river outlooks. This is because popular summer holiday areas in France, Spain and Portugal are on the coast. “They choose the location then search for a property with a sea view,” says Dring. “In a hot country a cracking sea view is your chill out factor.”

In Britain, estuary views are the most popular. “There’s more going on, it’s usually pretty safe for children to play near the water, it lets well if you rent out your property, and it’s usually better protected from the weather. Premiums can easily be 50 per cent,” says Martin Lamb of Savills estate agency in Exeter, which specialises in waterside properties.

“Then there are real sea views. There are very few of these around as coastal land is often protected so there’s little new building. And one disadvantage is that being near the sea often means having public rights of way, so privacy may be difficult,” he says.

Then comes the marina – the kind of “water activity” view that attracts, Lamb says, a rather more extrovert buyer.

“There aren’t so many of these buyers about now but most marinas have newbuild properties and they can be a bit flash. If they don’t have a mooring they may add 10 per cent or 20 per cent. But a mooring will add a lot more,” he says.

At the bottom of the pack, for premiums at least, comes those gentle water views on the banks of streams and canals. Premiums only exist, of course, because demand is consistently high.

A survey by the Halifax Bank of Scotland shows that in the 10 years to 2008, most internal migration involved shifting to coastal areas. Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Carmarthenshire, the Isle of Wight and Suffolk are the biggest recipients of those who move from inland and the big cities.

A separate Halifax survey shows that in the 10 years to late 2006 – so before the market fell – house prices rose far more on the coast than inland. Falmouth in Cornwall was up 316 per cent in a decade compared to 186 per cent across Britain as a whole, while the other big gains were in tiny south-west ports such as Mevagissey and Brixham, and larger south-coast havens of Brighton, Whitstable and Hythe.

“The ideal is direct water frontage with a mooring or a private beach. Everyone’s dream is to be able to drive up to their front door, walk through the house, down the path, check the lobster pots and step onto the boat,” says Martin Lamb.

“I get just a few of these each year and people will pay handsomely for them, too. Have a house with all that and you’ve hit the jackpot.”