This year has seen a great start for the property market, with the fastest weekly rise in house prices recorded in 19 months.

Average asking prices rose by £2,048, 0.9 per cent, in the first week of 2006 the largest weekly rise since May 2004, according to Rightmove.co.uk.

The increase comes after a 0.8 per cent fall in the month to December 12th 2005 and a flat second half of December.

It means house prices are 0.1 per cent higher than last month and the national house price average has been pushed up to £196,319.

Rightmove says buyers have been taking advantage of what is traditionally seen as a quiet period for the housing market to negotiate good deals.

Demand at the lower end of the market has raised average asking prices for terraced properties, flats and apartments by one per cent.

Greater London and the south-east performed best during the past month, with house prices rises of 1.3 per cent.

Rightmove says the large increase in this area bodes well for the rest of the country as recoveries in the market tend to start in the south and then filter out to the rest of the UK.

Rightmove's Miles Shipside said: "The geographic split is quite marked this month, as sellers in many parts of the country continue to readjust.

"London and the south-east have had a couple of tough years of acclimatising themselves already and are now coming out the other side.

"Without their strong performance, the national figures would have been in negative territory."