More than nine months on from the historic Brexit vote, and home buyers are now paying 1.3% on average more for property in the UK than they were before the EU vote, which is a ‘far cry’ from the 18% fall in house prices that former chancellor George Osborne predicted.

As part of the scare tactics adopted by the government to keep Britain in the EU, the chancellor warned about the short-term impact of Brexit, insisting that property prices could drop by more than £50,000 if voters opt to leave the EU on 23 June 2016.

While there is nothing that spooks markets more than uncertainty, with the EU referendum unleashing a wave of economic and political uncertainty, many investors felt that Osborne’s predictions were rather bold, given that there is a severe housing shortage in this country, and they have so far been proved right, with the latest figures revealing that home prices increased in February.

According to the data, provided by the Office for National Statistics, which include cash sales, the average price of a home in the UK rose by 5.8% in the year to February, up from 5.3% in January.

The average price of a property now stands at a record high of £217,502, led by gains in the East of England, where the average price of a home has increased by 10.3% year-on-year.

Paul Smith, CEO of haart estate agents, said: “House prices today prove unshakeable, as home buyers are now paying 1.3% more for their homes than they were pre-Brexit, which is a far cry from the 18% drop in house prices that George Osborne predicted.

“We can expect price growth to continue, as the latest CML mortgage lending data also shows market resilience as home buyers borrowing is up a huge 7% on the year, and 2% higher than last month. This chimes with our own data which shows a surge of new buyers and new instructions entering the market.”