House prices in the final quarter of 2012 were 0.6% higher than in the previous quarter, the first increase in this measure of the underlying trend since May 2012 following six consecutive falls.
Prices in the three months to December were slightly lower, down by 0.3%, compared with the last three months of 2011 but the lender pointed out that this marked an improvement over the previous few months and was the smallest annual decline since May 2012 when it was -0.1%.
Overall, there were six monthly rises and six decreases during 2012 and activity picked up modestly in recent months, from 75,000 in July to 80,000 in November. Overall, sales in the three months to November were 2% higher than in the same period last year.
