Latest figures collated from building societies and Land Registry records show house prices rose last month, Clear Property Investment learned.

Halifax analysts reported a rise of just over £1000 on the average property - showing pessimistic government economists they'd got their figures wrong. However, the Halifax don't predict any further major rises this year, insisting that house prices will remain "broadly unchanged" until 2011 at least.

Compared to last year though, the rise is more major - 4.8 per cent higher say Halifax. Land Registry figures are more optimistic - saying house prices have risen by 8.5% over the past 12 months with the south of England reporting the biggest rises - 16.8 per cent year-on-year. Property owners in Middlesburgh were suffering the worst with a 9.5 per cent fall. In terms of July the North East of England had the biggest rise at 3.1 per cent.


House prices in Scotland meanwhile increased by 5.3 per cent to £153,248 according to the Registers of Scotland for the quarter ending June 2010. It means the market has improved monthly since February. However, it's not universal - Stirling, Clackmannanshire and East Ayrshire all suffered price falls.


National Association of Estate Agents chief executive Peter Bolton said: "The latest Land Registry statistics show that the housing market is slowly recovering. This is to be welcomed, but many people are still excluded from owning a home because lending remains unfairly restricted."


The sale of property in Scotland was up 17.1 per cent while the value of sales grew by 23.3 per cent. Halifax Chief Economist Martin Ellis attributed the rise to low interest rates, an improving economy and the abolition of HIPs. But don't expect the rises to continue - especially if the Bank of England increases its base rate at the end of the year as many economists predict.


Howard Archer, chief economist for HIS Global Insight is adamant that high unemployment, job losses and tight credit stipulations would prevent further price growth. "The Land Registry data...is consistent with our view that house prices will struggle to make significant gains over the coming months," he said.


Meanwhile, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), which predicted house price rises of four per cent and upwards until Dec 2014, said low interest rates and a shortage of new builds would keep house prices healthy.


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