Average house price rose by 1.3% in August

The average price of a UK home rose by 1.3% in August, the largest monthly increase since January 2010, according to the Nationwide's latest house price index. The price of a typical home is £164,729, this is up from this is up from £164,389 in July when prices had fallen 0.8 per cent. Nationwide's chief economist Robert Gardner, says: “Given the difficult economic backdrop, the extent of the rebound in August is a little surprising. However, we should never read too much into one month's data, especially since monthly price changes have been impacted by a number of one-off factors this year, such as the ending of the stamp duty holiday for first time buyers. These are factors that cannot be controlled by the usual process of seasonal adjustment. “Nevertheless, the fact that the annual pace of house price decline moderated to -0.7% in August from -2.6% the previous month provides evidence that conditions remain fairly stable. This may be explained by the surprising resilience evident in the UK labour market, with further increases in employment in recent month.” August 31, 2012