Annual house price growth reached a five-year high in October, according to Nationwide.

The mutual said that the average property price rose by 5.8% over the last 12 months to reach £227,826.

This was up by 0.8% on September.

Despite the strong figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, cautioned: “The outlook remains highly uncertain and will depend heavily on how the pandemic and the measures to contain it evolve as well as the efficacy of policy measures implemented to limit the damage to the wider economy.

“Behavioural shifts as a result of Covid-19 may provide support for housing market activity, while the stamp duty holiday will continue to provide a near term boost by bringing purchases forward.

“However, activity is likely to slow in the coming quarters, perhaps sharply, if the labour market weakens as most analysts expect, especially once the stamp duty holiday expires at the end of March.”

Nicky Stevenson, managing director at Fine & Country, added: “For annual growth to hit a five-year high in October, a month that normally sees demand cool off ahead of Christmas, is staggering.

“The only slight word of caution is that, because this data is based on mortgage approvals, it is possible that some of these deals could fall through due to the high number of transactions slowing the conveyancing process, threatening to strip buyers of their stamp duty tax break.”