Agency Express revealed that agreed house sales were also 13.4% up on January 2009 and the new year has brought a 51.5% leap in the number of properties being put up for sale.
This was up 34.3% on last January and 25.7% up on January 2009.
Agency Express said that the prolonged period of severe weather resulted in slower than expected monthly house sales in January, similar to the same period last year when bad weather also disrupted house viewings.
The regions that saw the largest increase in sales in January were the North East (up 7.5%), Yorkshire (up 3.8%) and the South East (up 1.8%).
The three worst performing regions were the North West, with sales down 18.3%, the South West (down 15.1%) and London (down 14%).
Meanwhile, the top regions for new properties coming up for sale in January were the North East (up 104.9%), Central England (up 87.5%) and East Anglia (up 61.6%).
Stephen Watson, managing director of Agency Express, said activity postponed because of the weather in January was likely to result in a bumper February.
He said: “There are a still a lot of questions to be asked about the state of the economy, the prospects for interest rates and inflation, and the impact they will have on the housing market.
“However, the number of properties being put on the market and houses being sold last month were significantly above the previous two Januarys. It does indicate that confidence is returning to the market and that we can expect 2011 to be a better year than 2010.”
