Following a rise in May, the bank found that house prices had increased by 1% in June.

It added that the market had remained broadly steady in the last twelve months with an equal number of monthly gains and falls.

However, prices in June were 0.5% lower than the same month a year earlier. The average UK house price is now £162,417. The report also found that typical mortgage payments for a new borrower are around 26% of disposable earnings.

This rate, for first-time buyers and homemovers, is significantly lower than the 36% averaged over the past 27 years. Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said:

“There has been a marked improvement in the annual rate of change over the past 12 months.

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“A year ago, in May 2011, house prices were falling at an annual rate of 4.2%. In contrast, there has been broad stability recently with the annual rate between 0% and – 0.5% in each of the past three months.

“The ending of the stamp duty holiday at the end of March appears to have distorted house price movements and sales in recent months. Nonetheless, despite falling back in April and May, sales remain slightly higher than a year ago.”

Russell Quirk, director at eMoov.co.uk, added:

“You’d be two sandwiches short of a picnic if you took this one percent rise in house prices as a sign of market strength.

“The improvement in the annual rate of change suggests that prices have bottomed out, but a Black Swan event coming in from Europe could add further downward pressure.

“Anyone looking to sell in the current market has to put their property on at the right price, or be prepared to wait indefinitely. Buyers know they have a strong hand right now. The fact that supply is even weaker than demand is supporting prices.”