House prices rose by an average of £4,500 in January, according to the latest survey by property website Rightmove.
Prices of properties hitting the market were up by 1.3% or £4,571 month on month, to £359,748, Rightmove said, though are still lower than this time last year by around 0.7%, with around 15% more houses on the market.
Activity recently has been strongest in London and the North East of England, Rightmove said, with completions also improving over a year ago.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property science, said: “More new sellers are now entering the market, and with more confident pricing.”
Higher rents might also be encouraging people to move, with estate agent Hamptons today saying that private rents jumped by 10.2% annually in December, the strongest end-of-year annual growth since its records started in 2014.
A newly-let property in December 2023 was renting for £1,340, it said.