House prices across the country shot up by almost £5,000 month-on-month in August despite the tapering of initiatives such as the stamp duty holiday.

The average UK house price during August was £248,857, some £4,628 higher than in July, when it stood at £244,229, 11pc higher than a year earlier.

According to the research from Nationwide, property values were up by 2.1pc month-on-month in percentage terms, marking the second biggest gain in the past 15 years.

A 2.3pc monthly rise was previously recorded in April this year.

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In Norfolk, house prices fell during August for the first time in months, with property website Rightmove showing that prices in the East of England were down 0.2pc compared to last month.

However, this was still a rise of 7.5pc when compared to last year, with the average selling price £392,280.

In Suffolk, prices rose by 14pc between March 2020 and June 2021, leaving buyers looking for £32,505 more than they would have done previously according to Halifax figures.

Despite Norfolk and Suffolk figures showing decreases, David Hinton from Brown and Co said prices were not experiencing a dip adding that the company had been selling houses for up to over £100,000 more than market prices.

Eastern Daily Press: David Hinton of Brown and Co.David Hinton of Brown and Co. (Image: Angela Adams/Brown and Co)

David Hinton, residential sales manager and a senior associate, Brown & Co, said: “We at Brown and Co are not seeing house prices dip.

"In fact across Norfolk, applicant levels are increasing and we are still achieving over the asking price – between 5-15pc above.

"Recently we sold a house in Norwich for just short of £500,000 that was for sale for £450,000.

"Another house that was on the market for around £925,000 went for more than £1million and we sold another that was for sale for £995,000 for just short of £1.1million.

“Norfolk does lag behind other areas in the country and the national ‘house price drop’ may be based on London and the bigger cities.

“We are finding people are coming on holiday to Norwich and Norfolk and enjoying the pace of life here and also the value it offers.

"People living in London can sell a flat with no garden and afford a really good house in Norfolk in several acres for the same price. We are still seeing people wanting to move to Norfolk as a result of the pandemic.

“So currently we are going to best and final offers on properties, achieving more for our clients with sealed bids and we are not seeing any sign of this changing at the moment.”

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said house prices are now around 13pc higher than at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and described the bounceback as "surprising".

He said it had seemed more likely that the removal of the stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland from July would have taken some of the heat out of the market.

Mr Gardner suggested the strength may reflect strong demand from home buyers of properties priced between £125,000 and £250,000.

The "nil rate" stamp duty band was halved from £500,000 to £250,000 from July and will revert to £125,000 from October.

Mr Gardner continued: "Lack of supply is also likely to be a key factor behind August's price increase, with estate agents reporting low numbers of properties on their books.

"Underlying demand is likely to soften around the turn of the year if unemployment rises, as most analysts expect, when Government support schemes wind down.

"But even this is far from assured. The labour market has remained remarkably resilient to date and, even if it does weaken, there is scope for shifts in housing preferences as a result of the pandemic to continue to support activity for some time yet."

Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients said: "Property prices are rising due to lack of stock, while cheap borrowing rates give borrowers confidence to go after the property of their dreams in the race for space.

"We heard earlier this week from the Bank of England that savings deposits have increased significantly, giving lenders even more ammunition when it comes to offering rock-bottom rates.

"As we head into autumn, we expect more of the same for now."