Hopes of a revival in the UK property market were given a fresh boost today as official figures showed that home sales jumped 40 per cent last month.

According to HM Revenue & Customs, 60,000 homes worth at least £40,000 each were sold in March.

This compares with 43,000 flats and houses that were sold in February, according to HMRC.

The figures, which are not adjusted for seasonal trends, will fuel hopes that the prolonged downturn in the property market may finally be coming to an end.

They follow mixed figures on house prices over the first few months of the year, with leading lenders warning of big seasonal variations in sales patterns.

When seasonally adjusted, today's figures from HMRC still show a strong sales recovery, with a 13 per cent sales increase from 54,000 to 61,0000.

House prices have already fallen more than a fifth since their peak almost two years.

Leading housing market observers, including the Halifax and Nationwide, say that prices continue to fall.

Some experts say that prices still have a further 20 per cent to fall, before bottoming out this year.

Figures from HMRC come as the Council of Mortgage Lenders is expected to publish its data on mortgage lending later today.

The CML, which is made up of all the main mortgage lenders, including banks and building societies, has recently noted a slight pick-up in activity in the housing market, but has stressed that it is far too early to talk of a recovery.

It also comes ahead of today's Budget, with Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, under pressure to come up with ways of kick-starting the housing market, in particular by spurring mortgage companies to lend.

The CML yesterday urged the Chancellor to extend a low-cost home-ownership plan in order to provide help for first-time buyers.

Mortage lenders also wants a full-scale review of stamp duty, in the meanwhile raising the threshhold for the levy to £250,000.

They also want the Chancellor to extend further help to homeowners facing financial difficulties because of falls in the value of their properties or as a result of the recession.

According to the CML, up to 2 million households are unable to move because they have negative equity in their properties or not enough value to raise a fresh mortgage.

Michael Coogan, the director-general of the CML, yesterday highlighted forecasts of 75,000 repossessions this year and 500,000 mortgages in arrears by the end of the year.

According to a Trends in Lending report published by the Bank of England yesterday, lenders expect to extend more credit to both the housing market and small and medium-sized businesses over the coming months, although there is little sign of any recent increase.

"The report says some increase is expected in mortgage availability, but the volume of lending - and demand from consumers - will remain weak in the coming months," Mr Coogan said.

"Any recovery in market activity is at a delicate stage, but would be enhanced by measures in the Budget to enable more lenders to provide more lending."

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