The UK lender also says that that annual rate of price increase also rose again with prices in the three months of February 7.9% higher than in the same period last year.
On a monthly basis house prices increased by 2.4% in February, the eleventh monthly increase in the past 12 months, taking the average price to £179,872. But the average price is still 10% below the peak of the market in August 2007.
‘Several factors appear to have boosted demand, such as the improved economic outlook, unemployment falling faster than expected, improvements in consumer confidence and low interest rates,’ said Stephen Noakes, mortgages director at the Halifax.
‘However, continuing pressures on household finances, as earnings fail to keep pace with consumer price inflation, are expected to remain a constraint on the rate of growth of house prices. We are also seeing signs of a revival in house building, which should help bring supply and demand into better balance and curb upward pressure on prices over the medium and longer terms,’ he added.
The index report points out that sales are also rising and increased for the ninth successive month in January to 103,440, some 30% higher than in January 2013.
The number of mortgage approvals for house purchases, a leading indicator of completed house sales, was 11% higher in the three months to January than in the previous three months and 42% higher than in January last year.
The report suggests that market conditions are adding upward pressure on prices. While new buyer enquiries eased in January, this has been accompanied by a decline in the number of homeowners providing instructions to put their property on the market.
However, latest house building figures show signs of improvement which could help to bring demand and supply into better balance. The number of housing starts in England in 2013 increased by 24% to 98,610 from a year earlier.
