11 May 2010 Credits: Sky News.com
House Prices Up 6.6% Over Year Says Halifax

House prices have gone up 6.6% over the past 12 months, despite a small fall in April, according to new figures from the Halifax.

The Halifax house price survey showed the fastest annual rise since 2007.

But the mortgage lender cautioned that the growth for the past few months had been slowing and it predicted prices would be flat over the course of 2010.

Prices fell slightly in April by 0.1%, taking the cost of the average UK home to £168,202.

Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: ""The underlying rate of house price growth has slowed in recent months following the relatively sharp rebound, albeit from a low base, in the second half of 2009.

"New sales instructions have risen, helping to push up the stock of unsold properties in recent months.

"As a result, the imbalance between supply and demand is easing somewhat."

The Halifax figures contrast with data reported by Nationwide for April, which showed house prices rising by a strong 1% during the month, pushing annual growth up to 10.5%, the first time it has been in double digits since June 2007.

But Nationwide cautioned that it was unlikely that annual house price inflation would remain in double-digit territory during the coming months, pointing out that the quarterly rate of growth, which is considered to be a smoother indicator of market trends, was continuing to decline.