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House prices up 1% in June say Halifax

House prices saw an unexpected increase in June, despite the fact that the market is expected to hold broadly steady throughout the remainder of 2012.

According to research by the Halifax, house prices rose by 1% in June, in stark contrast to predictions by economists who had expected an 0.2% decline. In May, house prices rose by 0.4%, a downward revision from an original forecast of 0.5%.

During the last quarter, prices fell by 0.5%, higher than forecasts for a 0.8% decline.

Low levels of mortgage services relative to incomes and recent increases in employment may have helped to support house prices this year, according to Halifax economist Martin Ellis.

He said: “We expect little change in prices and sales over the remainder of the year provided that the UK’s economic outlook does not deteriorate significantly.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .