The drop was considerably yes than the 12 months prior, when house prices dipped by 1.3%.

Despite the yearly drop, prices rose 0.4% from January with the average UK house now selling for £281,000.

In England, prices fell in the 12 months to February by 1.1% to an average of £298,000 and also dropped in Wales, down 1.2% to £211,000. However, they rose considerably in Scotland, up 5.6% to an average £188,000 in the 12 months to February, the ONS says.

MT Finance director of property Tomer Aboody says: “With prices increasing month-on-month, we are seeing the strength in demand and confidence within buyers who are taking advantage of steading interest rates and lower inflation.

“However, with sales volumes considerably lower than last year, higher demand versus lower supply will always push prices up. “Sellers need to be encouraged to move in order to increase availability of stock in the market, and some movement in stamp duty rates would help.” Atom Bank head of mortgages Richard Harrison says: “The decrease in house prices reported today continues the trend of successive drops since the middle of last year, but despite this there are signs of rising confidence levels among buyers.

“We have already seen improved levels of activity in the property market of late following a period of relative stability.

“Data from Rightmove for example found that the number of sales in March was up by 13% on a year ago, while there has been an 8% growth in buyer demand as purchasers push ahead with moves they may have put on hold at the end of 2023, while house price indices from Nationwide and Halifax have shown prices on the rise.”