House prices 'up by 1.2%'

HOUSE PRICES rose by 1.2 per cent in 1993, according to the Halifax Building Society, in spite of a falling by 0.5 per cent last month, writes Vivien Goldsmith.

This is the first year to show a rise in prices since 1990 and the largest increase in prices since 1989.

Gary Marsh, housing economist at the Halifax, Britain's largest mortgage lender, said that although prices had been pretty flat through 1993 they should end this year 5 per cent higher. He also expects rises of between 5 and 10 per cent in 1995.

But Nationwide, the second largest building society, also issued house price statistics yesterday and once again produced different figures from the Halifax.

According to Nationwide, prices rose by 3.3 per cent last year, and fell by 0.1 per cent in the final three months across the country.