House prices in the UK increased for the third month in a row in July, according to a closely watched measure, raising hopes that the housing market is on the road to recovery. But economists remain extremely wary of forecasting that housing is heading back into another boom.
Prices rose by 1.3 per cent in July, after increases of 1 per cent in June and 1.3 per cent in May, an index produced by the Nationwide building society showed. The latest rise left house prices 14.6 per cent lower than their late-2007 peak, 6.2 per cent lower than a year ago and 1.3 per cent higher than at the start of the year.
