House prices rose 1.1% in March after falling 1.6% in February, the Halifax house price index has revealed.
Halifax said that the rise marked the eighth rise in the last nine months, taking the average price to 9.1% above the low point reached in April 2009.
The March figures also showed that house prices were 5.2% higher on an annual basis, the largest increase in the annual rate of change since December 2007.
Referring to the recent house price fall, Halifax's housing economist Martin Ellis said: "The return of the lowest stamp duty threshold to £125,000 affected housing demand at the end of 2009 and in early 2010. The bad weather in the first two months of this year also had an impact on demand at the start of the year."
He added that the housing market had "improved", pointing to property sales in England and Wales that had increased for three consecutive quarters after hitting a low in 2009's first quarter.
Source: Housebuilder
See Also: Property News (6711), House Prices (12), Halifax (13), Housebuilder (84)
Date Published: 14 April 2010
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