UK house prices increased by 0.7% in January, and were up 8.8% from the same month in 2013, according to the Nationwide Building Society.

Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said activity in the housing market was returning to "more normal" levels. He said the momentum was the result of rising employment, low mortgage rates and higher confidence.

The average price of a home stood at £176,491, the building society said.

The Nationwide's figures, based on its own mortgage data, come after surveys showed a sharp increase in housing market activity towards the end of 2013.

Over the year as a whole, there were more than one million properties sold, according to figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The Nationwide is the first to estimate the direction of house prices at the start of 2014, ahead of other surveys to be published in the coming weeks.

Annual house price changes

•     London: 11.2% rise
•     South East of England: 5.9% rise
•     East Midlands: 4.1% rise
•     East of England: 5.2% rise
•     North East: 0.1% fall
•     South West: 3.6% rise
•     North West: 1.7% rise
•     Wales: 3.5% rise
•     West Midlands: 3.2% rise
•     Yorkshire and the Humber: 0.5% rise

Source: Land Registry; Dec 2013