House prices rise by 1.2%, says Halifax

House prices rise by 1.2%, says Halifax

House prices rose by 1.2% in October, according to Halifax's monthly index published today. This is the fourth month in a row in which prices have increased, the lender said, and marks a rise of 7.1% since prices reached a trough in April.

Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: "Demand for houses has risen in recent months due to the very low level of interest rates, the decline in property prices since the summer of 2007, and a pick-up in consumer confidence on the back of better economic news.

"Higher demand has combined with a low level of properties available for sale to result in rising house prices over the past few months," he added.

According to Halifax the average house price has still fallen by 4.7% since October last year, compared with 17.7% in April. Last month saw the lowest rate of deflation since May last year, the lender said.

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Halifax said prices had increased by 1.6% during September, while Nationwide also reported a rise in prices. The building society said the average price had crept up by 0.4%, and put the annual rate of inflation at 2%, the first annual increase in prices since spring 2008.

Last week the Land Registry, which bases its figures on completed sales, also reported that prices had risen. Prices edged up by 0.9% in England and Wales in September putting annual change at -5.6%.

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