Following two successive falls, house prices in the three months to June were 3.3% higher and 9.6% higher than in the same three months a year earlier.
HMRC figures from May backed up the figures which showed that home sales increased by 1% between April and May to 98,540, with figures 4.2% lower in March to May 2014 compared to the same period in 2015.
However, recent Bank of England statistics revealed that the number of mortgage approvals for house purchases, which is a leading indicator of completed house sales, fell by 5% in May, but were still 6% higher in the three months to May than in the preceding three months.
Further figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed that the stock of homes dropped to a new record low in May with new enquires from potential buyers increasing at the same time.
Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis, said: “Supply remains very tight with the stock of homes available for sale currently at record low levels. This shortage has been a key factor maintaining house price growth at a robust pace so far in 2015. Economic growth, higher employment, increasing real earnings growth and very low mortgage rates are all supporting housing demand with signs of a recent modest pick-up in demand.”
