House Prices Rise Again says London Mortgage Brokers, London Mortgage Advice Friday, 2nd October 2009

For the fifth month in a row house prices have risen during September, and this has pushed property values back up to levels of this time last year.

According to Nationwide Building Society,
the average cost of a UK home rose by 0.9% during the month to £161,816. Property prices are now more or less level with 12 months ago, and this means that September was the first month in which annual house price inflation has not been negative since March 2008.

During the past three months, property prices have risen by 3.8% compared with the previous three-month period, the biggest increase on this measure for five years.

Due to the ongoing problems in the mortgage market and rising unemployment, house prices may not continue to increase at their current rate. With high unemployment, restrictive credit conditions and an impending withdrawal of the stamp duty holiday, it will be difficult to see house prices continuing to increase at recent rates.