This was the first increase in prices on this measure of the underlying trend since September 2011 (0.1%), following six successive falls. On a monthly basis, house prices fell by 2.4% in April. This more than offset the previous month's 2.2% increase as prices continue to fluctuate month-to-month.
Prices in the three months to April were 0.5% lower than in the same period a year earlier. This measure of the annual rate improved slightly from -0.6% in March and showed the smallest fall in prices since October 2010 (+1.2%).
No change in the average UK house price so far this year. The UK average price in April 2012, at £159,883, was virtually the same as in December 2011 (£159,888).
Rise in sales: The total number of completed house sales in the first three months of 2012 was 11% higher than in the same period last year. Sales were also the highest in the first quarter of any year since 2008. Efforts by first-time buyers to beat the expiry of the stamp duty holiday at the end of March, however, probably increased sales in the first quarter of 2012, making it difficult to determine the underlying trend.
Britons are becoming more confident in the outlook for the housing market, according to the latest Halifax Housing Market Confidence tracker. Nearly 4 in 10 respondents predicted that house prices nationally will increase over the next year, almost double the 20% that believe house prices will fall.
As a result, the headline House Price Outlook balance - the difference between the proportion of people that expect house prices to rise rather than fall - increased to an overall balance score of +19 percentage points in March from +7 in the previous survey in January. This is the most positive reading since Halifax began measuring consumer confidence in the housing market a year ago.
Commenting, Martin Ellis, housing economist, said:
"Prices in the three months to April were 0.3% higher than in the previous quarter, marking the first rise in this measure for seven months. Despite the slight improvement in the underlying trend in recent months, house prices continue to lack real direction with the current UK average price little different to where it was at the end of 2011. The monthly figures continue to fluctuate quite widely with a 2.4% decline in April, wiping out March's 2.2% rise.
"The ending of the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers in late March appears to have boosted home sales early this year as buyers strove to beat the deadline, and has probably contributed to the volatility in house prices in the last few months.
"We continue to expect little overall movement in prices as the UK economic situation remains challenging."
