The price of a typical house rose for the fourth consecutive month in August, increasing by 1.6 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis.
That is the finding of the latest Nationwide house price index, which also revealed that the year-on-year decline in prices has now slowed from -6.2 per cent to -2.7 per cent.
Furthermore, the three month-on-three month rate of change, which is generally considered a smoother indicator of the near term trend – rose from 2.7 per cent in July to 3.3 per cent in August, the highest level since February 2007.
The bounce back in prices during August means that the average price of a typical UK property is now £160,224, only slightly lower than 12 months ago.
Nationwide was quick to clarify, however, that while the seasonally adjusted index of house prices over the first eight months of 2009 has risen by 3.2 per cent, relative to the October 2007 peak it is still down by 14.4 per cent
