The average price of new property coming to market has nudged up to a record high, Rightmove reports this morning.

The portal’s April House Price Index shows asking prices on listings increased by a modest 0.4% on a monthly basis and annual growth slowed to 1.6% from 2.1% in March, but it was enough to push values to a record high of £305,732.

That beats the record £304,943 set last July.

Rightmove also said March was its busiest month ever, with more than 142m visits.

Further analysis in the report found that on average, sellers are achieving 96.7% of their final asking price, a gap of just over £10,000 on the current national asking price, though this varies by region, location and property.

There are signs that properties were shifting faster, with time on the market dropping from 64 days in February to 61 in March, while stock increased from 43 to 45 properties per agent.

Miles Shipside, director and housing market analyst at Rightmove, said: “Home buyers are seeing average asking prices at their highest ever level with upwards price pressure getting stronger the further away you move from London.

“However, higher prices stretch buyers’ willingness to pay or ability to afford them.

“This month’s increase of 0.4% is the lowest at this time of year since 2008, though the subdued figure could partly be a re-balancing from the seasonally large 1.5% rise the previous month. The earlier Easter bank holidays and heavy snow disrupting property marketing will also have an effect on like-for-like comparisons with last year.”

Rightmove’s new asking price is close to the £301,490 actual selling price reported today by Your Move.

It says annual price growth slowed for the tenth successive month, dragged down by London and the south-east.

Your Move’s House Price Index for March showed average prices were flat on a monthly basis and grew just 0.7% annually.

Much of the slowdown has come from London where prices fell 1.5% annually, the third successive month of declines, while the south-east registered no growth.

Without these two regions, the rest of England and Wales has seen prices grow 2.6% annually, while Bristol is leading the pack with 8.6% annual growth.

The region with the largest annual growth was the north-west at 3.9%, with average prices at £192,964, just ahead of the east midlands which saw prices grow 3.6% to £212,258.

Oliver Blake, managing director  of Your Move and  Reeds Rains, said: “The slowdown in London and the south-east is now well established.

“Yet the performance of many of our key cities and regions elsewhere shows that there’s still life in the market yet.”