Sales are still low, with an average of 35,848 per month

Every region recorded a monthly rise in prices according to the Land Registry, with the average home valued at £155,885, the analysis found.

But prices were still 11.7% lower in July than they were in July 2008 and sales were down. The sharpest decline was in the North East of England where prices fell 13.2%.

The rise in house prices overall is bad news for tenants, who have seen rent levels increase again. However, the number of sales still remains quite low, with an average of 35,848 sales per month between February and May this year, compared with 61,743 in the same period last year.

The housing market slump was worse for the owners of flats and terraced homes, as the value of terraced properties fell by 12.9% and flats by 12.7% in July compared with the same month in 2008. Detached homes fell by just 10.2%, whilst semi-detached homes fell by 11.3%.