Annual house price growth is expected to reach 5.9 per cent in April, marking the highest jump since before the Brexit referendum, according to a forecast from Reallymoving.

The property website expects average prices across England and Wales to reach £300,995, which will be the largest annual increase since March 2016 when prices rose by 7 per cent on the previous year.

Reallymoving, which allows home movers to compare prices for conveyancing, removals and other services, says buyers typically register for quotes twelve weeks before their purchase complete.

This enables the website to forecast future movements in house prices based on the figures buyers submit.

Reallymoving expects monthly house price growth to dip by 1.1 per cent in February and 0.7 per cent in March before rebounding to 4.3 per cent in April as the market picks up. 

Chief executive Rob Houghton says: “Growing certainty about the UK’s future direction following the General Election appears to be prompting the release of some of the pent-up demand in the market from buyers and sellers who have adopted a policy of ‘wait and see’ over the last few months. 

“This surge of optimism is clearly evident in sales agreed in January, which we anticipate will be visible in Land Registry data in April.

“However, if trade talks between the UK and the EU fail to progress well this brighter outlook for the housing market could be short-lived, in which case this spring could present the best window of opportunity to sell for some time.”