House price inflation could hit 8% this year

The lender says house prices rose by 2% in April and that the increase last month has taken house prices up by 4.4% for the first four months of 2006. Average house prices now stand at £178,992 Halifax says. While the housing market appears to be hotting up Halifax cautions it is likely that house prices will cool in the second half of this year. It says the increases in recent months are partly attributable to “technical factors” such as the poor levels of growth seen in the corresponding months of last year. It says that this will unwind later in the year effectively taking the “heat” ...