House Prices See First Annual Rise In Over A Year
Property prices have risen on an annual basis for the first time in a year, according to the Nationwide, but are still below their peak.
The UK's largest building society said house prices were up 1.2% in February compared with a year ago.
Signs of activity have been seen in the UK housing market, with Bank of England figures on Thursday showing a rise in mortgage approvals.
But the Nationwide said the outlook was still "highly uncertain".
"The decline in borrowing costs around the turn of the year appears to have prompted an uptick in the housing market," said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist.
"Nevertheless, near-term prospects remain highly uncertain, in part due to ongoing uncertainty about the future path of interest rates."
On a month-on-month basis, house prices increased by 0.7% in February, according to the Nationwide's data, taking the average UK house price to £260,420.
However, it said that property prices remained 3% lower than their peak during the summer of 2022.