Annual growth rose to 1.1%, from 0.4% in March, though this can be attributed to the base effect of weaker price growth around this time last year.

The average property now costs £288,949, compared to £287,244 at the start of the year.  Average house prices have largely plateaued in the early part of 2024.

Halifax head of mortgages Amanda Bryden commented: “This reflects a housing market finding its feet in an era of higher interest rates. While borrowing costs remain more expensive than a few years ago, homebuyers are gaining confidence from a period of relative stability. Activity and demand are improving, evidenced by greater numbers of mortgage applications so far this year, while at an industry level mortgage approvals have reached their highest point in 18 months.

“Our recent research also found that buyers are adjusting their expectations, with first-time buyers in particular compensating for higher borrowing costs by targeting smaller properties. We see this reflected in property prices for the first few months of this year, with the value of flats rising most sharply, closing the ‘growth gap’ on bigger properties that’s existed for most of the last four years.”

She added: “However, we can’t overlook the fact that affordability constraints are still a significant challenge, for both new buyers and those rolling off fixed-term deals. Mortgage rates have edged up again in recent weeks, primarily as a result of expectations around future Bank of England base rate changes, with markets now pricing in a slower pace of cuts.

“If, as is still expected, downward moves in Bank Rate come into play later this year, fixed mortgage rates should fall. Combined with the resilience displayed by the housing market over recent months, we now expect property prices to rise modestly over the course of 2024.”

Quilter mortgage expert Karen Noye said this morning’s house price index from Halifax paints a marginally more positive picture than Nationwide’s equivalent. Halifax reported that house prices grew 0.1% in April following a 0.9% fall in March, while on an annual basis, prices grew by 1.1%.

“The differing views reported in the various house price indices show just how unpredictable the property market remains. Though Halifax reports an increase, the growth in house prices is hardly anything to write home about given we would typically expect sales to gain momentum in the spring, and for house prices to rise as a result. However, so far this year that has not been the case as monthly property transactions have been remarkably subdued.”

She added: “What’s more, mortgage rates have been gradually increasing, so we can expect transactions to remain dampened for some time yet. When combined with the ongoing cost of living pressures, many prospective buyers will struggle when it comes to affordability, particularly those first-time buyers who will also have found it much harder to save enough for a deposit.”

MT Finance managing director Gareth Lewis insisted the housing market desperately needed some stimulus, giving buyers and sellers more confidence to transact.

“The slight uptick in prices compared with March suggests there is a level of confidence in the market but it only goes so far with not enough properties coming to market or buyers able and willing to transact.”

He concluded: “The housing market is a work in progress. Prices haven’t fallen off a cliff, which is encouraging, but some form of stamp duty stimulus would really boost activity and transaction numbers, which are far more important than prices.”