House prices up for fourth consecutive month: Hometrack

House prices have grown for the fourth consecutive month, according to the latest national house price survey published by Hometrack, the housing intelligence business.

Prices grew by 0.2% in November, bringing the year on year rate of house price growth to -2.9%.

Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said estate agents are beginning to feel more confident about sustainable pricing levels However, he said: “This pick up in market activity and prices is not one that has been felt across the whole country. The stark reality is that there are large swathes of the country where prices have remained unchanged or have seen continued price falls.”

Comparing prices today with six months ago has revealed that the recovery in house prices has been felt across 37% of the country.

Over the last six months, London and the South East have consistently seen the largest number of postcodes registering price rises - values are up across 78% of London and over half of the South East. Yet in five regions – the North West, East Midlands,Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside and the North have seen less than 20% of their market registering any price rise.