House prices in the latest three months were 1.9% higher than in the preceding three months, according to Halifax.

This is within the range of 1.8 – 2.1% recorded for this measure throughout the preceding eight months to June 2013.

Prices in the three months to January were 7.3% higher than in the same three months a year earlier. This was marginally lower than in December (7.5%).

The average price of a home is £175,546.

House prices increased by 1.1% in January. This followed a small fall in December (-0.5%).

Nicholas Ayre, managing director of homebuying agency Home Fusion, said: “With house price growth at 7.3% buyers are considerably more optimistic than they were this time last year. Many are still concerned about the ‘bogy’ of an interest rate rise, although that is a tough call to tell when Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, will make his move. The same upward pressure on house prices is being felt, as supply constraints don’t appear to be ending anytime soon.

“We have broken through the one million transaction threshold for the first time since 2007, which we always see as the darkest days and has come to represent our reference point when everything went horribly wrong. We are moving way beyond that now. We have reached a point at which buyers are now thinking very hard about taking the plunge and this may now be starting to temper demand. The spectre of overpaying and the thought of negative equity could well be in the back of people’s minds.

“The definition of a house price bubble, is when people will pay anything for a property. This is not what we are seeing here. Many people are still heavily indebted, particularly if they have maxed out on credit cards. Growth at 1.9% over the previous three months and annual price growth falling slightly when compared with the previous month, is hardly a market running away with itself.”