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divdiv class=story-body readability=39 span class=story-date#13; span class=date29 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time02:06 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1Prices of houses and flats have picked up strongly, according to figures from the UK's second largest mortgage lender./p#13; pThe Nationwide building society said house prices are now rising at 6.5% a year, up from 5.8% a month ago./p#13; pIt said the average price of a house or flat in the UK is £174,566, the highest since April 2008./p#13; pHowever, other measures suggest house price inflation is lower than the Nationwide figure./p#13; pThe Nationwide made it clear that prices are still below the peak of the market, seen six years ago./p#13; pPrices are still around 6% below the all-time high recorded in late 2007, said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist./p#13; pHe said the improvement was the result of the better outlook in the jobs market, and a brighter economic outlook, which has helped to bolster sentiment./p#13; pOn a monthly basis, prices increased by 0.6%, slightly slower than in October, when prices rose by 1% in one month alone./p#13; span class=cross-headMortgage costs/span#13; pOther recent housing market surveys have recorded growth rates around half that of the Nationwide./p#13; pThe Land Registry said this week that prices in England and Wales were rising by 3.4% year on year. Land Registry figures are based on actual sales, instead of mortgage approvals, which are used by Nationwide./p#13; pHowever, the Land Registry estimates include a significant time lag./p#13; pThe Office for National Statistics (ONS) said its latest estimate for house price inflation was 3.8%./p#13; pSome economists believe the Bank of England's decision to stop Funding for Lending (FLS) for household mortgages could now put a brake on the housing market./p#13; pFrom January, FLS will only be used for business lending./p#13; pUnder FLS, banks and building societies have been able to borrow money cheaply, if they lend it out to individuals and businesses./p#13; pOne of the reasons given for its withdrawal from individuals was that the supply of mortgages had improved and FLS help was no longer needed./p#13; pBut if the decision to restrict FLS does put upward pressure on mortgage rates in the new year, that, in turn, could slow house price inflation./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center