House prices in the U.K. stayed unchanged from the previous month in December, data from a survey by mortgage services provider Acadametrics and LSL Property Services Plc showed Friday.
The average price of a home in England and Wales remained broadly unchanged month-on-month at GBP227,026 in December, after recording a 0.2 percent increase in the previous month.
Compared to December 2011, house prices increased by 3.2 percent, boosted mainly by a marked rise in prices in London. The latest annual growth followed a 3.3 percent increase in November.
In the whole of 2012, the housing market in certain northern regions remained in a state of near-paralysis due to public sector cuts, weak private sector growth, and a lack of mortgages for less affluent borrowers. Meanwhile, prices in the south of England, and particularly London, increased progressively, data showed.
The positive movement in prices suggest a modest turnaround in what might be considered the real housing market. Though the market is showing signs of improvement, there are still several chronic weaknesses preventing a sustained rehabilitation in sales and prices, Academetrics noted.
The survey signaled that house prices are likely to rise by a modest amount in 2013, which will be a slightly easier year for mortgage lenders as availability of finance for house purchases is expected to improve, and help boost sales.
The latest survey by property services provider Halifax showed that British house prices rose 1.3 percent in December from a month ago. The agency said it expects continuing broad stability in house prices nationally in 2013, with prices likely to end the year at levels close to where they began.
Earlier, Nationwide Building Society reported a 0.1 percent sequential decline in UK house prices in December, after recording no change in the previous month.
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