House prices have grown 2.6% in the three months to February, building on similar growth in the three months to January.

However, the Halifax figures show that prices dropped by 0.3% from January to February 2015, the first monthly fall since October, putting the average house price at £192,372.

Quarterly changes more reliable

Martin Ellis, a housing economist at Halifax, says the quarterly increases are partly due to a rise in real earnings and spending power, along with low mortgage rates and stamp duty changes.

He adds that the low supply of new and second hand homes is also a factor in the rise in prices.

The quarterly changes are important as they are judged to be a more reliable indication of underlying trends in the market, levelling out monthly changes.

For example, monthly drop in January could be put down to the traditionally low numbers of sales taking place at that time of year.

The yearly figures showed an 8.3% growth, but that was down on the 8.5% year-on-year increase in January 2015 and the 10.2% year-on-year increase seen in July 2014.

Stephanie McMahon, Head of Research at Strutt & Parker, said: “There still lies an imbalance between London and the rest of the UK but there are signs of strong recovery in the regions as buyers outside the capital look for affordability.

"The holding off of interest rate rises, now not expected before autumn 2015 at the earliest, is a big positive. This combined with continued wage growth – UK real wages and living standards began to recover for the first time in five years in December - and low inflation, should give the national market the momentum it needs.

"We should see a flurry of activity up until the autumn as buyers take advantage of the low interest rate environment.”

Guy Robinson, Head of Regional Residential Agency at Strutt & Parker, adds: “Given the pending election, we are pleasantly surprised at the levels of activity, most specifically in those areas closest to London, in the sub £2m market.”

Rise in mortgage applications

The rise follows news from that Bank of England that the number of mortgage approvals made to home-buyers rose for the second month in a row in January.

This followed five monthly falls in approvals between July and November last year.

Recent figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders also saw activity at the bottom of the market with an increase in the number of loans approved for first-time buyers.

The figures show that more than 300,000 home loans were given to first-time buyers during 2014 - the largest number seen since 2007.