Analysis from giant property website Rightmove's shows the number of sales agreed in March is the highest since before the financial crisis.

This is even more remarkable when considered in the light of the bumper March last year, when buyers scrambled to buy before the rise in stamp duty that April.

The first-time buyer sector is helping to driving growth, with prices rising by 6.5% annually to new record of £194,881. However, this is tempered by a slower pace of increase further up the market, with an overall annual rate of increase of 2.2%, the lowest recorded since April 2013.

Miles Shipside, Rightmove director, said: “High buyer demand in most parts of the country has helped to propel the price of newly marketed property to record highs. There are signs of a strong spring market with the number of sales agreed achieved at this time of year being the highest since 2007.”