The average house price has gone up by nearly £16,000 the Nationwide Building Society has said
Property values hit a peak of £238,831 in April and the average price had increased by £15,916 over the previous 12 months.
House prices jumped by 2.1% month on month, marking the biggest monthly increase since 2004.
The report said predicts that annual house price growth will reach double digits by this summer, if prices hold steady over the next couple of months.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “Annual house price growth accelerated to 7.1% in April, only slightly below the peak of 7.3% recorded in December and up from 5.7% in March.
“In month-on-month terms, house prices rose by 2.1% in April, after taking account of seasonal effects, the biggest month rise since February 2004.
“Just as expectations of the end of the stamp duty holiday led to a slowdown in house price growth in March, so the extension of the stamp duty holiday in the Budget prompted a reacceleration in April.
“However, our research suggests that, while the stamp duty holiday is impacting the timing of housing transactions, for most people it is not the key motivating factor prompting them to move in the first place.
“For example, amongst home-owners surveyed at the end of April that were either moving home or considering a move, three-quarters said this would have been the case even if the stamp duty holiday had not been extended.”
