The average UK house price rose by 1.1 per cent to £230,000 in the year to February before the coronavirus pandemic put the property market in lockdown, official data show.

Annual growth was down marginally from 1.5 per cent in the year to January, according to the Office for National Statistics and Land Registry index.

Prices dipped by 0.6 per cent month on month from January to February, compared to a decrease of 0.3 per cent over the same period last year.

On a country by country basis, Wales saw the biggest annual jump in prices, with an increase of 3.4 per cent to £164,000.

Northern Ireland saw an annual increase of 2.5 per cent to £140,000, while Scotland saw prices rise by the same percentage to £151,000.

In England, prices edged up by just 0.8 per cent to £246,000.

By region, the East of England was the only location to see prices fall, with a reduction of 1 per cent year on year.

Andrews Property Group chief executive David Westgate says today’s figures are “frankly irrelevant” when it comes to taking the temperature of the current market.

He says: “The property market, like much of the economy, has been frozen in time in an effort to limit the spread of Covid-19.

“When the property market is switched back on by the government, and it is likely to be included in the first wave, the initial focus will be to complete on the hundreds of thousands of transactions that have been put on ice.

“The hope is that the government’s unprecedented action to support the economy, coupled with interest rates being cut to a record low, will cushion the property market against the full impact of the lockdown.”

Westgate believes we could even see a surge in pent-up demand as people returning to their jobs are finally free to get on with their lives.

He adds: “Buyers should not expect prices to move in their favour when the market is turned back on.

“Gazunderers and anyone trying to renegotiate offers made pre-lockdown will receive short shrift from sellers, who will be acutely aware that the government’s drastic support measures have kept many people in their jobs. 

“It goes without saying that the ongoing supply deficit will also continue to support values.

“An extension to the Help to Buy scheme is looking inevitable but we may also see more extreme stimuli including a temporary stamp duty holiday.

“Like most sectors, the property market will be on uncertain ground in the months ahead but what we do know for certain is that it has always bounced back from whatever the economy has thrown at it.

“We expect it to be the first quarter of next year before the property market finally gets into its stride again and picks up the momentum it found after the 2019 General Election.

“Transactions will understandably be at lower levels during the remainder of 2020 as households and the economy recalibrate to the new normal.”