According to the property website’s house price index, July 2013 saw year-on-year growth of 4.8%. It has now revised its original prediction of a 2% rise.

Rightmove attributed the increase to a “positive borrowing window” created by a low-bank base rate, Funding for Lending-fuelled rate wars and Help to Buy enabling more people to compete for less homes.

However, the firm warned surveyors were struggling to cope with increasing market activity.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: “The ability to borrow is increasing as the Funding for Lending Scheme starts to really deliver, though it still favours those with better deposits. Lenders are squeezing their margins and, with the prospect of no base rate rise for three years, consumers are increasingly aware of moving options rather than debt burden.

“The Help to Buy scheme, the centrepiece of the last Budget, has already created a marked upturn in the new-build market as recently reported in some developers’ trading updates. We even hear that some developers are ‘running out of bricks’.”

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Enquiries were up 18% on 2012, new sellers up 5% and mortgage approvals were up 6%, the website reported.

Among English and Welsh asking prices, London saw by far the highest year-on-year at 12%. It was followed by the South East and the North West.