More than half of the region's chartered surveyors saw an increase in December, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

And over the next 12 months, north west prices are predicted to increase further.

No up-to-date figures are available from Rics but property website Rightmove said that house prices in the north west rose by £1,337 this month to an average £177,194 - with the north west the only area outside the south east where prices increased.

And in even better news for home owners, local estate agents say that the average house price in the Barrow area is now £80,000 to £90,000 for terraces and in the region of £200,000-plus for traditional bay-window semi-detached homes.

Shortage of stock is affecting buyers, with strong demand for fewer homes.

The latest figures are part of an improving national picture, with all UK areas, except central London, experiencing price rises.

Kevin Walsh, director of agent H&F, said: "Sales in general have been up for H&F for three or four years now with prices rising steadily for three years but last year we did notice a lack of stock.

"Traditionally the Furness area doesn’t suffer high price rises and instead grows at a moderate rate every year. The only time we have seen high percentage growth was in 2005/6 and 07 when people from Lancashire realised they could buy buy-to-let properties far cheaper than in, say, Preston or Blackburn but of course the crash came and because that demand pushed prices up, we suffered as well as the rest of the country.

"As I said, we are a fairly steady market. Last year we arranged more mortgages than any year since the crash and there is certainly more confidence from buyers.

"My own view is that when the crash happened we lost the first-time buyer market for five or more years as mortgages were so difficult to obtain so more people were renting.

"Now, however, with lenders offering more deals and interest rates remaining so low, first-time buyers can often buy a home cheaper than they can rent one.

"There is confidence in the job sector in this area so the market is strong but there is not the property to meet the extra demand."

David Corrie, of Corrie and Co, said: "The north west starts with a lower price base and benefits from substantial infrastructure and employment increases at the moment, although we do have a lack of new-build supply.

"There is, as often, a ripple effect from the south on price increase trends. There is also less stock available for both rent and sale which drives market prices up."

Graeme MacLeod, managing director of Cumberland Estate Agents, said: "December data isn’t terribly reliable in the estate agency world as the traditional slow-down in activity can produce wildly different results and forecasts.

"However, at the Cumberland we continue to see an overall upward trend on property prices and see no reason why this won’t continue in 2017.

"The southern house price data is skewed by the London effect and economic factors influencing much of that market owe as much to fluctuations in the Asian, middle east and Russian economies as it does to fears over Brexit and UK interest rates.

"Regionally the supply of new instructions remains low so sellers can command good prices. And in the lettings sector supply is even more restricted so we expect to see even greater gains in rental values."

In the north west’s lettings market, tenant demand increased marginally, with 41 per cent of agents seeing a rise in inquiries for rental properties, while new landlord instructions were more or less flat.

This growing demand, which is consistently outpacing supply, is causing rents to increase and 51 per cent of respondents in the North West expect rents to rise further over the coming three months.

This trend is expected to continue with respondents projecting rental growth to average close to 5 per cent a year over the next five years.