Last Friday's Halifax house price figures for January were in stark contrast to the Nationwide survey.

Nationwide claimed growth of 1.2%, and said that over the year, house prices were up 8.6%.

But Halifax said house prices rose 0.6% last month, and were up 3.6% in the last 12 months.

Both sets of annual figures were out of sync with the Land Registry, which says that annual house price inflation has been far lower.

Catherine Penman, head of research at Carter Jonas, said: “It is impossible to state with any form of certainty exactly what is happening to prices at the national level. There is simply no clarity around pricing.

“The house price landscape varies from isolated hotspots of activity where prices are proving strong to areas where they still seem to be in decline. It is a curious market and a clouded one. The price of a property is defined by its location and quality, not what is happening in the broader market.”

Halifax said that despite January’s rises, it predicted flat price growth this year.