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Interest rates have been cut to a new record low bringing good news for homeowners.
The Bank of England base rate is now set at 1% following a 0.5% cut, meaning around four million homeowners will see their mortgage repayments cut.
Following the Monetary Policy Committee's decision, four of the country's largest mortgage lenders immediately announced they would pass on the full rate cut to their standard variable rate (SVR) customers.
Other good news on the property front came as Halifax announced house prices rose by 1.9% in January, after 10 months of consecutive falls.
Since the house price peak in July 2007 homeowners have seen an average £36,000 reduction in the value of their property with the average house now costing £163,966.
But economists were quick to warn people not to read too much into a single month's data, as monthly house price changes tend to be volatile.
The annual rate of house price inflation, which measures prices in the previous three months compared with the same period a year ago, also remained deep in negative territory at a new record low of minus 17.2%.
But the figures are in line with recent evidence suggesting the housing market may be stabilising, as recent interest rate cuts, combined with the steep house price falls seen during the past year, tempt buyers back into the market.
Allan Monks, of JPMorgan Chase Bank, said: "The surprise gain in Halifax is not reflective of the underlying downward trend in house prices, but offers another hint that the pace of decline is moderating.
"Our view is that the ongoing decline in effective mortgage borrowing rates will help this gradual process to continue in the coming months."
The housing market is likely to receive a further boost from today's interest rate cut.
The 0.5% reduction, which will automatically be passed on to the majority of the 40% of mortgage customers on tracker deals, with knock £40 a month off a £150,000 mortgage, while those with a £250,000 home loan will be £66 a month better off.
People on tracker rates will have seen their repayments fall by around £350 a month for those with a £150,000 mortgage and by £580 a month for those with a £250,000 loan since October.
There are now 1,500 borrowers with Cheltenham & Gloucester who are paying interest of just 0.001% on their tracker mortgage, which is set at base rate minus 1.01%.
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