Another rise in house prices reports London Mortgage Broker, London Mortgage Advice Wednesday, 7th October 2009

Fuelled by cheap borrowing rates and a shortage of homes coming on to the market, house prices continued to rise last month.

For the third consecutive monthly rise and the fifth that the lender has recorded this year, Halifax has reported a 1.6 per cent increase in prices in September.Nationwide reported that prices had risen by 0.9 per cent last month and couple with yesterday’s figures there are hopes that this will accelerate a market recovery.

Nevertheless there are many who remain remain unconvinced that prices will continue to rise to the same extent and have forecast flat growth with monthly fluctuations for the rest of this year and into next.

This is because the combination of increased demand and a low level of properties available for sale has pushed up house prices in recent months. And of course the improvement in affordability due to the reduction in both property prices and interest rates since mid-2007 has been a key factor in stimulating higher demand.

Due to the real concern over unemployment levels and the lack of access to mortgage finance, especially for first-time buyers there is a muted expectation that the market will carry on with the increase activity of recent weeks.