By Robin Bowman

The first thing to point out is that these are only asking prices - not transaction prices.

Even so, a rise of 2.4 per cent on the month, as revealed in the Halifax index today has to be significant, backed as it is by a rise - albeit a more modest one - recorded earlier by the Nationwide's index, plus Rightmove's, which matched the Nationwide's 2.4 per cent figure.

When Rightmove published its data nearer the start of the month, we warned that the market was still very sickly indeed.

So, is anything different this time? The fact is, that it may well be - marginally, mainly because the positive news is not just surrounding the price rise.