House prices slipped by 0.6 per cent to £238,511 from April to March as the coronavirus lockdown put the brakes on the market, but year on year they were still 2.7 per cent higher according to the latest Halifax index.

However, the lender noted that with market activity almost at a standstill, limited transaction volumes make it difficult to accurately reflect average house prices.

 Halifax managing director Russell Galley says: “This will lead to a great deal of volatility until more data becomes available.

“It will not be until after lockdown restrictions are eased that we will get a sense of the new temporary normal conditions for the housing market.”

He adds: “More immediately, we are likely to see some considerable movement in activity levels as buyers and sellers seek to kick-start previously agreed transactions which are likely to have stalled or been delayed. 

“The future remains uncertain and based on our current forecasting we expect short-term headwinds to house prices, although we maintain our underlying confidence in the health of the housing market in the longer term.”

Coreco managing director Andrew Montlake says: “Given the low transaction levels we are seeing at present, it is pointless to be publishing house price indices at all.

“Though the property market has been artificially paused, what we do know is that there are many buyers and sellers who remain keen to progress their move.

“We have received a lot more enquiries over the past couple of weeks, with many people now looking to move to more rural areas once this is all over given the perceived reduced risk from future peaks and pandemics.

“Increasingly, people want to take advantage of the fact that coming out of this pandemic there will be more home working flexibility and better technology. 

“This means they will be required to commute into main cities less and less.

“We are on the verge of a fundamental shift in our working and social lives and the availability of housing and lending will be key to this.”