Rightmove: House prices rose in January 

Across Britain, according to Rightmove, the average asking price is now £362,438, which is 0.9% higher than in December.

It follows two months of falling prices, with January’s typical price tag still £8,720 lower than October’s peak.

Rightmove have said that the volume of prospective buyers sending inquiries to estate agents about homes is up 55% in the last two weeks, indicating pent-up demand.

Buyer demand is up 4% compared to the same period in the last "normal" pre-pandemic market of 2019.

However, it is still down by 36% compared to last year’s busiest-ever start to a year as the market navigates a more normal level of activity.

Meanwhile, on 5 January, the number of people requesting an estate agent to value their home was the third largest on Rightmove’s records.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property science, said: "The early-bird sellers who are already on the market and have priced correctly are likely to reap the benefits of the bounce in buyer activity, while over-valuing sellers may get caught out as property stock builds over the next few weeks and months, and they experience more competition from other better-priced sellers in their area.

“We expect that the full effect of affordability constraints and last year’s mortgage rate rises will hold back some segments of the market in the first half of the year, but our leading market indicators may start to identify some green shoots of growth that will go on to strengthen in the second half of 2023”