The figures from the Halifax House Price Index also show a quarterly rise of 3.6% and an annual rise of 10.2%, taking the average price of a home to £186,322.
Looking at previous figures, the data showed a fall in June but this has now been countered by the 1.4% rise in July. Since last December there have been four monthly price increases and four price falls.
Stephen Noakes, mortgages director at the Halifax, pointed out that monthly figures can be volatile and the quarterly data gives a more accurate picture of what the trends are.
‘While supply remains low, housing demand continues to be supported by a continuing economic recovery, growth in employment, improving consumer confidence and low mortgage rates. However, earnings growth is still lagging behind consumer price inflation,’ he said.
Although home sales have edged down by 6% since a recent peak in February, they are close to 103,000. Home sales during the April to June quarter were 21% higher than in the same three months last year, according to seasonally adjusted figures from HMRC.
New buyer enquires continue to ease, a trend that started in November last year, according to data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
On the other hand, the latest Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker indicates that sentiment towards selling is growing. Over half, 57%, of those surveyed believe the next 12 months will be a good time to sell, compared to only 32% who feel it will be a bad time. This is the highest score of this measure since the survey’s inception in April 2011.
