Average house prices in January stood at £212,430, the Halifax has reported.

The ‘seasonally adjusted’ average was 9.7% above that of January 2015 and was a 1.7% rise on December.

Economist Martin Ellis said: “The imbalance between supply and demand continues to exert significant upward pressure on house prices. This situation looks set to persist over the coming months.”

Separately, LonRes has reported “a fairly gloomy picture” of the prime London market.

It said demand levels are subdued, with agents reporting falling levels of transactions and prices.

Transactions in prime central London were down 22% by the final quarter of the year.

However, it is forecasting a busy first quarter as buy-to-let investors and purchasers of second homes try to beat the April 1 Stamp Duty surcharge deadline.