House prices in the UK have risen for the seventh consecutive month, which runs contrary to the forecasts of various industry experts who have suggested the rise cannot be sustained for any significant period of time. In fact, many experts, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), believe that house prices must fall to record lows before they are likely to rise beyond their peak 2007 values.

Moreover, this process could take a further four to five years to come to fruition, which is hardly good news for homeowners looking to sell up and move on. Indeed, many homeowners have already been forced to invest in significant home improvements, including loft conversion and garage conversion projects, which are designed to increase the available space in houses that have become too small to be called family homes.

However, the Nationwide Building Society has announced the average value of a home in the UK has increased by 0.5% in November compared to the previous month. This rise puts the average UK house price at £162,764, which puts the market in a position similar to that which was experienced in early 2006. Nationwide attributed the continued increase of house prices to a job market that is much stronger than had been feared. Indeed, many employers have chosen to reduce salaries and working hours rather than terminate employment, so although the recession has hit workers hard the damage has been limited to a certain extent.

Furthermore, demands for high mortgage deposits have also reduced, so access to the market has widened somewhat. Nevertheless, despite these encouraging figures, the so-called ‘three-month on three-month’ rate of increase in house prices has dipped from 3.5% in October to 2.8% in November, which can perhaps be seen as a sign that the apparent recovery is in fact slowing.

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