On Tuesday, one of the UK’s leading mortgage lenders announced that house prices in the UK have risen for the fifth consecutive month, which adds further weight to the view shared by many that the country’s weakened housing market is well on the road to recovery.

However, whilst the Halifax’s figures bolster those published by the Nationwide Building Society last week, which suggest that house prices have in fact risen for seven consecutive months as of November 2009, there remains a healthy scepticism over claims that the slump is over.

According to the Halifax’s figures, house prices rose by 1.4% in November, which elevated the average cost of a home in the UK to £167,664. These figures can be compared with those of the Nationwide, which comprised a 0.5% rise during the same month and an average house price of £162,764. However, the Halifax’s figures remain 1.6% lower than they were in 2008, although they have risen by 4.2% over the current year. In any case, homeowners who are eager to sell up at former market prices should not be counting their idiomatic chickens just yet.

Indeed, despite strong signs that the housing market is continuing to recover steadily in the UK, the Halifax has issued a caution to potential buyers and sellers who intend to do business in the New Year. Speaking to the BBC news service, Martin Ellis, an economist at the Halifax, warned that house prices had been “driven by increased demand for property, largely due to the improvement in affordability for existing homeowners and first-time buyers”, whilst “the prospects for the market will depend on how the UK economy evolves and whether there is a significant increase in the supply of properties for sale”. Specifically, the Halifax is predicting that current house prices can only be sustained in 2010 if more homes enter the market.

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