House prices stood at a record £233,947 as this year began, haart has reported.

The firm has used its own data relating to average prices of homes sold subject to contract.

The new record was 14.6% up on last year.

The firm says that average first-time buyer prices of properties sold subject to contract was £170,812, and the average London house price was £555,952 – a staggering annual rise of 23.5%.

Haart estimates that, based on its own data, there were 58,623 exchanges of contract in the UK during December, down 5.8% on December the year before, with the ratio of new buyer demand to property supply at nearly 12 to one.

CEO Paul Smith said: “While December is generally a slow month for the property market, as people turn their focus to the festive season rather than buying or selling their home, there were a staggering 12 buyers chasing every property to come on to the market.

“The high level of competition sustained throughout 2015 has pushed house prices up by 14.6% or £29,814 in monetary terms over the year.

“This is more than the UK average salary according to official government data throwing the price rise into sharp relief – certainly good news for those looking to realise the equity in their home.

“Off the back of this, I expect 2016 to be a particularly active year for the property market, especially the first few months as buy-to-let investors clamour to complete purchases by April and the introduction of the 3% Stamp Duty surcharge.

“With interest rates likely to stay stable, generous mortgage packages will continue to be available, including those that require just a 5% deposit. This will be particularly helpful for first-time buyers, and will also push up demand among home owners and investors. As a result I expect to see house prices increase by 9% throughout 2016.”

* Separately, LSL firm e.surv estimates that there were 68,218 mortgage approvals in December, up 12.5% from December 2014. The chartered surveying firm said that “supply issues” are persisting in the housing market.