House prices increase

House prices in England and Wales rose in September, according to the Land Registry.

Data from the body indicated that there was a 0.9 per cent increase in the cost of buying a home in the month, compared with a 0.1 per cent drop in August.

This improvement also eased the level of annual price decline from 9.4 per cent to 5.6 per cent.

Eight of the ten regions surveyed saw property values going up, with London seeing the largest at 1.7 per cent and the south-east in second place at 1.1 per cent.

It was the second successive month in which the capital saw the greatest increase.

Such positive news may provide a further sign that the housing market is on the mend, something that could encourage more construction.

Should the improvements in the market over the last six months continue at the same pace, the market will reach a price peak by the middle of 2011, chief executive at property firm Assetz Stuart Law claimed recently.