Land Registry reports house prices continue to rise
House prices rose by 0.9% in September and the average price of a property in England and Wales now stands at £158,377 - according to the Land Registry.
The Registry's latest figures for the month found that growth was almost double the 0.5% rise in August and is based on data for completed sales.
A spokesperson for the Registry said that the headline figures suggest house prices have bounced back rapidly since the start of the year, seemingly driven by a lack of supply and improvements in buyer confidence.
However, industry watchers believe the recovery is still fragile as there are factors such as unemployment that are capable of derailing the market.
All eyes will be on the Nationwide Building Society's house price index for October which will be released on Friday. It is hoped that the housing market continues to show growth and builds on last month's report which showed prices were up for the fifth month in succession. This returning the average cost of a UK property to the same level as September last year.