House price back on the rise

New figures suggest that house prices may be bouncing back, contrary to predictions that they will continue falling, news which may interest those considering the self build option.

The Halifax House Price Survey for December showed a 1.3 per cent increase in prices, reversing the trend which had seen the bank record falls in each of the three previous months.

Analysts had been predicting a 0.5 per cent decline, Reuters reports.

Such a figure would have been in line with the Nationwide figure for December, which indicated a price drop of that amount.

However, Global Insight chief economist Howard Archer, while cautioning against reading too much into one month's figures, told the Guardian: "The Halifax survey hints that house prices may prove relatively resilient over the coming months, thereby easing concerns that a sharp correction in house prices is looming."

The overall Halifax figure for house price inflation in 2007 was 5.2 per cent.


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