The property market has been given a boost after official figures unexpectedly revealed a 0.9% rise in house prices during January.

The Land Registry figures show that the average cost of a home in England and Wales is now up to £186,045.

The rise more than wipes out December's 0.4% fall, but annual house price inflation has continued to decrease for its fifth consecutive month, dropping from 6.7% in December to 6.4%.

Most commentators are predicting a continuing downturn in the property market, with prices either stagnating this year or falling by a small amount.

But property website Rightmove recently said prices in England and Wales surged ahead by 3.2% during the four weeks to February 6, although it cautioned against reading too much into the rise, saying it was likely to have been distorted by the final rollout of the controversial Home Information Packs.

The Land Registry figures continue to show wide regional variations, with prices rising by 2% in the North West, but falling by 0.3% in Wales during January.

House price inflation in London is also running at nearly double the rate of anywhere else in the country at 13.1% taken annually, with the South East seeing the next strongest growth at 7.8%.

But homeowners in other regions will be less pleased, as figures show prices rising by only 1.3% in Wales during the 12 months to the end of January.

The number of homes changing hands has also fallen 14% from last year, with an average of 100,648 transactions carried out per month between August and November, compared with about 117,173 per month during the same period of 2006.

Brigid O'Leary, property economist at Capital Economics, said: "Land Registry data show that house prices were a little more robust in January than other data have suggested.

"However, the bigger picture remains one of a steadily cooling market, and seems consistent with our view that a prolonged housing market correction is more likely than a short-sharp shock."

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