House prices show signs of a spring revival

Property website Rightmove said the average price of a UK property rose to 235,512 between March 7 and April 10 in a marked improvement of the 0.1 per cent lift seen the month before.

The number of new properties coming on to the market also rose sharply, with buyers enjoying the greatest choice since October last year following months of a shortage in supply.

And the Government's new stamp duty fillip for first-time buyers – introduced last month for all properties under 250,000 – provided a boost, as Rightmove noted a 35 per cent hike in the number of property pages viewed over Easter.

The news comes after last week's survey data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed that selling activity soared to its highest level since May 2007 in March.

But Rightmove warned that the potential for over-supply could see prices come under pressure later in the year.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said: "With weather disruptions out of the way, more sellers are coming to market and they appear to be ignoring the uncertainties facing potential buyers."

He added: "Prices are up, but so is choice, and the two are not happy bedfellows in the longer term. This year more than ever the traditional spring seller window is a price-sensitive one."

The house price statistics show the average value of a property is now 6 per cent higher than a year ago.

The regional breakdown of its latest price data showed that East Anglia and the West Midlands saw the greatest month-on-month rise in asking prices, up 4.9 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively. Asking prices fell in the North West, by 0.7 per cent, and only rose by 0.9 per cent in Yorkshire & Humberside.