Despite the mortgage slowdown, average prices in England and Wales went up £1,200 in April, setting a new record according to the latest LSL Property Services monthly index.
The average property value is now £263,113 climbing £54,000 – or 26 per cent – above the recession rock bottom of April 2009 when the nation was gripped in the gloomy depths of the financial crisis.
It also means house prices have grown by 7.3 per cent in just a year.
House prices: LSL Property Services show that property values have soared in the last 12 months
Total house sales stand 40 per cent higher than at the same point last year, totalling 72,000 in April.
LSL says activity is largely being fuelled by increasing numbers of purchases by first-time buyers and buy-to-let landlords, as consumer confidence sweeps the country.
David Newnes, director of Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agents, owned by LSL Property Services, said: ‘Low inflation and healthy wage growth are energising household finances, and infusing aspiring buyers with greater optimism.
‘But supply levels need to keep pace, thus allowing the wheels of the housing market to continue turning. Constrained supply in the capital has already moderated total London sales over the past twelve months.
‘Demand shows no sign of slowing. More house building is imperative to keep the momentum going and to ensure that price rises are sustainable, in particular for first-time buyers – who remain the key ingredient at the lower end of the market, oiling the cogs of growth.’