UK average house prices rose by 4.7% over the year to September 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics.

It said that property prices have now hit their all-time highest level, at £245,000.

Nationally, the ONS reported that house prices increased to £262,000 in England (a rise of 4.9%), £171,000 in Wales (up 3.8% annually), £162,000 in Scotland (4.3%) and to £143,000 in Northern Ireland (2.4%).

London’s average house prices hit a record high of £496,000 in September 2020.

Jonathan Hopper, CEO of Garrington Property Finders, said: “Of all the unexpected consequences of Britain’s Covid crisis, the house price boom is perhaps the most surprising.

“The Land Registry’s data confirms that the surge in prices is real and sustained. In the 12 months to the end of September, prices rose nearly four times faster than they did in the year leading up to the UK’s Covid outbreak. And the annual pace of price growth is now an incredible eight times faster than it was during the depths of the first national lockdown.

Managing director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, added: “High levels of homebuyer demand continue to grease the cogs of the UK housing market and this continued price growth is being primarily driven by second and third rung buyers looking for larger homes in the wake of lockdown restrictions.

“A second national lockdown will only intensify this trend and as a result price growth should remain stable in the mid-term at the very least. Hopes of a vaccine will also breath new life into the market with any chance of a downturn looking slim at present.

“However, the end of the stamp duty holiday and the furlough scheme could still pose a danger with many predicting the market could fall off a cliff as demand dries up.”