The April House Price Index (HPI) by Halifax has revealed that average property prices are up 10.8% in a year, to a record high of £286,079.

The latest Halifax HPI report shows that house prices increased by 1.1% in April, which is the 10th consecutive monthly rise, the longest run since 2016. Prices have now increased by £47,568 in two years, according to the report. Previous market analysis shows that it took five and a half years for the market to rise by this much in the past.

Northern Ireland is now the UK area with strongest house price inflation, but the rate of house price growth is still expected to slow as incomes are being squeezed by the cost-of-living crisis and rising interest rates.

Nicky Stevenson, managing director at national estate agent group Fine & County, said: “The doomsayers continue to be surprised by the data emerging from the UK housing market. Amid all the volatility elsewhere, this remains the one area of the economy which isn’t struggling. An acute shortage of housing stock has meant that prices have remained at elevated levels.”