The surprise increase in house prices was driven by a 4.9 per cent jump in the average price of a detached property during January.

The average cost of a home in the UK now stands at £195,724, according to the Department of Communities and Local Government.

The figures come as the City watchdog said that a total of 46,750 homes were repossessed during 2008, 68 per cent more than during the previous year.

But there was some positive news in the quarterly rate at which houses lost their value.

Properties lost 3.9 per cent of their value during the three months to the end of January, compared with a drop of 5.2 per cent in the three months to the end of October.

The  value of terraced houses fell by 2.3 per cent and there was a 1.8 per cent drop in the price of flats.

The average price paid for a home by a first-time buyer fell by 2 per cent during January, to be 15.4 per cent lower than a year ago.

By contrast, there was a 1 per cent rise in the value of properties bought by owner occupiers, although prices were still 10 per cent lower than they were in January 2008.

The cost of bungalows and semi-detached properties also eased by 0.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively.

A total of 46,750 properties were repossessed by lenders during the year, up from 27,900 in 2007, the Financial Services Authority said.

Around 68,000 people got into arrears during the period, a 13 per cent jump compared with the previous quarter, which had seen a 10 per cent rise.

There was also a steep jump in the number of people who fell behind with their mortgage repayments during the final quarter of the year.

Halifax reported a surprise 1.9 per cent jump in house prices during January, but this was more than wiped out by a 2.3 per cent slide the following month.

The majority of data on the housing market since January has remained negative, as consumers continue to struggle to raise the finance they need to buy a home, while potential buyers also hold off in the hope of further house price falls.

But Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: ‘The [CLG] data is not seasonally adjusted and house prices always tend to rise in January after falling over the Christmas period when activity is particularly muted.

‘Significantly, this January’s marginal edging up in house prices was substantially less than the 1.6 per cent month-on-month rise seen in January 2008, hence the marked widening in the year-on-year drop.’

He said that while estate agents were reporting a pick-up in inquiries from potential buyers, there were few signs that this interest was translating into sales.

He said: ‘We suspect that any pick-up in housing market activity will be limited for some considerable time to come and that further significant house price drops are in the offing.’

Annual house price inflation remained deep in negative territory in all regions of the UK during January.