This annual growth, which reflects agreements made before the pandemic took hold of the property market, was down slightly on March’s annual increase of 3.5 per cent, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
It is the first official house price index to be published since the data was suspended earlier this year.
Marc von Grundherr, director of estate agent Benham and Reeves, said: “Today’s figures demonstrate a market defiant in the face of adversity.
“Despite such unprecedented circumstances we still managed to carry on and complete on property sales agreed prior to the pandemic hitting, rather than throwing in the towel until the dust had settled.”
The historical figures showed that compared to March, house prices in the UK saw a nominal 0.2 per cent drop.
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, added: “These numbers are even more historic than usual but they show a housing market that was functioning well in April before government measures were introduced to reduce the spread of Covid-19.”
Regional differences
House prices in Wales saw the largest jump in April, as they rose five per cent to £169,489. On a monthly basis, this was a 0.6 per cent increase.
This was followed by the East Midlands with a yearly rise of 4.7 per cent to £200,513. Month-to-month, this was a rise of 1.1 per cent.
Northern Ireland saw an annual house price change of 3.8 per cent to £140,580 and average prices in England rose 2.5 per cent to £250,874.
The North East was the only region to see a yearly decline, with prices dropping 2.3 per cent to £125,938.
Land Registry announced the return of the house price index last week, with plans to intermittently publish data for the suspended months until September before resuming to normal in October.
May’s data is expected to be released on 2 September, June index on 16 September, July index on 7 October and August index on 21 October.
